Analysis of A Lullaby

Eugene Field 1850 (St. Louis) – 1895 (Chicago)



The stars are twinkling in the skies,
The earth is lost in slumbers deep;
So hush, my sweet, and close thine eyes,
And let me lull thy soul to sleep.
Compose thy dimpled hands to rest,
And like a little birdling lie
Secure within thy cozy nest
Upon my loving mother breast,
And slumber to my lullaby,
So hushaby--O hushaby.

The moon is singing to a star
The little song I sing to you;
The father sun has strayed afar,
As baby's sire is straying too.
And so the loving mother moon
Sings to the little star on high;
And as she sings, her gentle tune
Is borne to me, and thus I croon
For thee, my sweet, that lullaby
Of hushaby--O hushaby.

There is a little one asleep
That does not hear his mother's song;
But angel watchers--as I weep--
Surround his grave the night-tide long.
And as I sing, my sweet, to you,
Oh, would the lullaby I sing--
The same sweet lullaby he knew
While slumb'ring on this bosom too--
Were borne to him on angel's wing!
So hushaby--O hushaby.


Scheme ababcdccdE fgfghdhhde bibigjggjE
Poetic Form Etheree  (33%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 011100001 0111011 11110111 01111111 01110111 0101011 01011101 01110101 0101110 1111 01110101 01011111 01011101 110101101 01010101 11010111 01110101 11110111 1111110 1111 11010101 11111101 11010111 01110111 01111111 1101011 0111011 1111101 0111111 1111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 944
Words 185
Sentences 8
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 10, 10, 10
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 246
Words per stanza (avg) 61
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 28, 2023

56 sec read
275

Eugene Field

Eugene Field, Sr. was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. more…

All Eugene Field poems | Eugene Field Books

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