Analysis of Which are You?
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
There are two kinds of people on earth to-day;
Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.
Not the sinner and saint, for it's well understood,
The good are half bad, and the bad are half good.
Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man's wealth,
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.
Not the humble and proud, for in life's little span,
Who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man.
Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.
No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.
Wherever you go, you will find the earth's masses,
Are always divided in just these two classes.
And oddly enough, you will find too, I ween,
There's only one lifter to twenty who lean.
In which class are you? Are you easing the load,
Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner, who lets others share
Your portion of labor, and worry and care?
Scheme | AA BB CC DD XX EE FF DE GG HH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11111101111 1111101111 10100111101 01111001111 101001111011 111101111001 101001101101 11111111001 101001101101 11111001111 10111101111 101011001011 010111110110 11010011110 01001111111 11011011011 01111111001 1011011101 11101011101 11011001001 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 966 |
Words | 192 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 74 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 19 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 20, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 95 Views
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