Analysis of The shut-eye train

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



Come, my little one, with me!
There are wondrous sights to see
As the evening shadows fall;
In your pretty cap and gown,
Don't detain
The Shut-Eye train -
"Ting-a-ling!" the bell it goeth,
"Toot-toot!" the whistle bloweth,
And we hear the warning call:
"All aboard for Shut-Eye Town!"

Over hill and over plain
Soon will speed the Shut-Eye train!
Through the blue where bloom the stars
And the Mother Moon looks down
We'll away
To land of Fay -
Oh, the sights that we shall see there!
Come, my little one, with me there -
'T is a goodly train of cars -
All aboard for Shut-Eye Town!

Swifter than a wild bird's flight,
Through the realms of fleecy light
We shall speed and speed away!
Let the Night in envy frown -
What care we
How wroth she be!
To the Balow-land above us,
To the Balow-folk who love us,
Let us hasten while we may -
All aboard for Shut-Eye Town!

Shut-Eye Town is passing fair -
Golden dreams await us there;
We shall dream those dreams, my dear,
Till the Mother Moon goes down -
See unfold
Delights untold!
And in those mysterious places
We shall see beloved faces
And beloved voices hear
In the grace of Shut-Eye Town.

Heavy are your eyes, my sweet,
Weary are your little feet -
Nestle closer up to me
In your pretty cap and gown;
Don't detain
The Shut-Eye train!
"Ting-a-ling!" the bell it goeth,
"Toot-toot!" the whistle bloweth
Oh, the sights that we shall see!
All aboard for Shut-Eye Town!


Scheme aabCDDEEbC ddfcgghhfC iigcaajjgC hhxckkllxc mmaCDDEEaC
Poetic Form Etheree  (26%)
Metre 1110111 1110111 101011 0110101 101 0111 1010111 110101 0110101 1011111 1010101 1110111 1011101 0010111 101 1111 10111111 11101111 11010111 1011111 1010111 1011101 1110101 1010101 111 1111 10101011 10101111 1110111 1011111 1111101 1010111 1111111 1010111 101 0101 001010010 1110110 001101 0011111 1011111 1011101 1010111 0110101 101 0111 1010111 110101 1011111 1011111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,370
Words 269
Sentences 18
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
Lines Amount 50
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 214
Words per stanza (avg) 52
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 12, 2023

1:20 min read
128

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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