Analysis of To Marry Or Not To Marry?

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919



A Girl’s Reverie

Mother says, ‘Be in no hurry,
Marriage oft means care and worry.’

Auntie says, with manner grave,
‘Wife is synonym for slave.’

Father asks, in tones commanding,
‘How does Bradstreet rate his standing? ’

Sister, crooning to her twins,
Sighs, ‘With marriage care begins.’

Grandma, near life’s closing days,
Murmurs, ‘Sweet are girlhood’s ways.’

Maud, twice widowed (‘sod and grass’)
Looks at me and moans ‘Alas! ’

They are six, and I am one,
Life for me has just begun.

They are older, calmer, wiser:
Age should aye be youth’s adviser.

They must know – and yet, dear me,
When in Harry’s eyes I see

All the world of love there burning –
On my six advisers turning,

I make an answer, ‘Oh, but Harry
Is not like most men who marry.’

‘Fate has offered me a prize,
Life with love means Paradise.’

‘Life without it is not worth
All the foolish joys of earth.’

So, in spite of all they say,
I shall name the wedding day.


Scheme A AA BB CC DD EE FF GG HH AA CC AA XX II JJ
Poetic Form
Metre 01100 10110110 10111010 1011101 111011 10101010 1111110 1010101 1110101 1011101 101111 1110101 1110101 1110111 1111101 11101010 11111010 1110111 101111 10111110 11101010 111101110 11111110 1110101 111110 1011111 1010111 1011111 1110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 974
Words 180
Sentences 13
Stanzas 15
Stanza Lengths 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
Lines Amount 29
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 46
Words per stanza (avg) 11
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 12, 2023

54 sec read
116

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet. more…

All Ella Wheeler Wilcox poems | Ella Wheeler Wilcox Books

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