Analysis of Ganderfeather's Gift
Eugene Field 1850 (St. Louis) – 1895 (Chicago)
I was just a little thing
When a fairy came and kissed me;
Floating in upon the light
Of a haunted summer night,
Lo, the fairies came to sing
Pretty slumber songs and bring
Certain boons that else had missed me.
From a dream I turned to see
What those strangers brought for me,
When that fairy up and kissed me--
Here, upon this cheek, he kissed me!
Simmerdew was there, but she
Did not like me altogether;
Daisybright and Turtledove,
Pilfercurds and Honeylove,
Thistleblow and Amberglee
On that gleaming, ghostly sea
Floated from the misty heather,
And around my trundle-bed
Frisked, and looked, and whispering said--
Solemnlike and all together:
'You shall kiss him, Ganderfeather!'
Ganderfeather kissed me then--
Ganderfeather, quaint and merry!
No attenuate sprite was he,
--But as buxom as could be;--
Kissed me twice, and once again,
And the others shouted when
On my cheek uprose a berry
Somewhat like a mole, mayhap,
But the kiss-mark of that chap
Ganderfeather, passing merry--
Humorsome, but kindly, very!
I was just a tiny thing
When the prankish Ganderfeather
Brought this curious gift to me
With his fairy kisses three;
Yet with honest pride I sing
That same gift he chose to bring
Out of yonder haunted heather.
Other charms and friendships fly--
Constant friends this mole and I,
Who have been so long together.
Thank you, little Ganderfeather!
Scheme | ABCCAABBBBB BDEEFBDGGDD HBBBHHBIIBB ADBBAADFXDD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110101 10101011 1000101 1010101 1010111 1010101 10111111 1011111 1110111 11101011 10111111 11111 1111010 101 101 101 1110101 10101010 0011101 10101001 101010 11111 1111 11010 1010111 1110111 1110101 0010101 1111010 111011 1011111 11010 111010 1110101 1011 11100111 1110101 1110111 1111111 11101010 1010101 1011101 11111010 11101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,373 |
Words | 234 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 11, 11, 11, 11 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 269 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 58 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 16, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 232 Views
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"Ganderfeather's Gift" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12948/ganderfeather%27s-gift>.
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