Analysis of The Cut Finger
Ellis Parker Butler 1869 (Muscatine) – 1937 (Williamsville)
THE GOSSOON [Weeping]
It’s bleedin’! It’s bleedin’!
THE OULD WOMAN [Soothingly]
An’ shure, me lad, ‘t is bleedin’;
But come, me hearty laddy buck, be brave an’ do not cry;
A lad that’s learnin’ readin’ sh’u'd be far beyant the heedin’
Av a tiny bit o’ finger cut that hurrts a bit foreby.
‘Ere ye come till wan an’ twinty
Ye’ll be havin’ hurrts in plinty
An’ ye’ll learn a bit o’ bleedin’ doesn’t mean ye’re goin’ t’ die.
THE GOSSOON [Crying]
It’s bleedin’! It’s bleedin’!
THE OULD WOMAN [Comfortingly]
An’ shure, me lad, ‘t is bleedin’;
But he’s me slashin’ buckeen, an’ he will not weep at all;
A rag is all ‘t is needin’ fer t’ sthop the whole proceedin’,
An’, shure, a bit o’ rosy blood won’t make me gossoon bawl;
Fer ‘t is but wan way av knowin’
Ye have good red blood a-flowin’
An’ a-workin’ all inside av ye t’ make ye strong an’ tall.
THE GOSSOON [Sobbing]
It’s bleedin’! It’s bleedin’!
THE OULD WOMAN [Lovingly]
Aye, aye, me lad, ‘t is bleedin’,
An’ some foine day yer hearrt will bleed as bleeds the hearrt av me.
The saints ye will be pleadin’, but ‘t is little they’ll be heedin’,
Fer the worrld is full av bleedin’ hearrts on either side the sea.
An’ I’d die t’ aise the achin’
Whin ye feel yer hearrt a-brealdn’,
But, ah! the poor ould woman won’t be there t’ comfort ye.
Scheme | a B c Bdbx eed a B c Bcbcbbc a B c bfbfbbf |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (20%) |
Metre | 011 1111 01101 1111111 1111011111111 01111111101 10101110111011 1111111 111101 1110111111111 011 1111 01101 1111111 111111111111 0111111111011 1101110111111 11111111 1111101 10110111111111 011 1111 01101 1111111 11111111110111 01111111110111 10111111110101 1111101 1111101 11011101111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,403 |
Words | 245 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 1, 1, 4, 3, 1, 1, 1, 7, 1, 1, 1, 7 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 72 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 19 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 67 Views
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