Analysis of Why I Went To The Foot
Ellis Parker Butler 1869 (Muscatine) – 1937 (Williamsville)
Was ever a maiden so worried?
I’ll admit I am partial to Jim,
For Jimmie has promised to wed me
When I’m old enough to wed him.
But then I love teacher, too, dearly,
She’s always so lovely to me,
And she’s pretty and kind and sweet-tempered,
And gentle as gentle can be.
I wouldn’t for worlds hurt Jim’s feelings,
For he never would like me again—
But there was my dearest, sweet teacher,
And I’d die if my words gave her pain.
'Two plus two equals what?' was the problem.
And I knew teacher thought it made 'four';
But Jimmie said 'six,' and maintained it
As long as he stood on the floor.
And I saw I must soon choose between them,
For I was the next in the line.
Should I side with my teacher or Jimmie?
What a sad situation was mine!
And just as my heart with that problem
Of friendship was so sorely vexed
I was called on to answer the other,
For teacher had said, sharply, 'Next!'
It was then that the brilliant thought struck me,
That by compromise I could contrive
To hurt neither teacher nor Jimmie,
And that’s how I came to say 'five.'
Scheme | XABA BBXB XXCX DEXE XFBF DGCG BHBH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (71%) |
Metre | 110010110 101111011 110110111 11101111 111110110 1111011 0110010110 01011011 11111110 111011101 111110110 011111101 1111011010 011101111 110110011 11111101 0111111011 11101001 1111110110 10101011 011111110 11011101 1111110010 11011101 1111010111 11101101 111010110 01111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,044 |
Words | 208 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 114 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:01 min read
- 101 Views
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"Why I Went To The Foot" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/11093/why-i-went-to-the-foot>.
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