Don't You See?
Katharine Lee Bates 1859 (Falmouth) – 1929 (Wellesley)
The day was hotter than words can tell,
So hot the jelly-fish wouldn't jell.
The halibut went all to butter,
And the catfish had only force to utter
A faint sea-mew - aye, though some have doubted,
The carp he capered and the horn-pout pouted.
The sardonic sardine had his sly heart's wish
When the angelfish fought with the paradise fish.
'T was a sight gave the bluefish the blues to see,
But the seal concealed a wicked glee-
The day it went from bad to worse,
Till the pickerel picked the purse-crab's purse.
And the crab felt crabedder yet no doubt,
Because the oyster would n't shell out.
The sculpin would sculp, but had n't a model,
And the coddlefish begged for something to coddle.
But to both the dolphin refused its doll,
Till the whale was oblidged to whale them all.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 131 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABBCC DDEE FF GGHH XX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 771 |
Words | 145 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 4, 2, 4, 2 |
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"Don't You See?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/24854/don't-you-see?>.
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