Analysis of To De Witt Miller
Eugene Field 1850 (St. Louis) – 1895 (Chicago)
Dear Miller: You and I despise
The cad who gathers books to sell 'em,
Be they but sixteen-mos in cloth
Or stately folios garbed in vellum.
But when one fellow has a prize
Another bibliophile is needing,
Why, then, a satisfactory trade
Is quite a laudable proceeding.
There's precedent in Bristol's case
The great collector--preacher-farmer;
And in the case of that divine
Who shrives the soul of P.D. Armour.
When from their sapient, saintly lips
The words of wisdom are not dropping,
They turn to trade--that is to say,
When they're not preaching they are swapping!
So to the flock it doth appear
That this a most conspicuous fact is:
That which these godly pastors do
Must surely be a proper practice.
Now, here's a pretty prize, indeed,
On which De Vinne's art is lavished;
Harkee! the bonny, dainty thing
Is simply waiting to be ravished!
And you have that for which I pine
As you should pine for this fair creature:
Come, now, suppose we make a trade--
You take this gem, and send the Beecher!
Surely, these graceful, tender songs
(In samite garb with lots of gilt on)
Are more to you than those dull tome?
Her pastor gave to Lizzie Tilton!
Scheme | ABXB ACDC XEFE XCXC XXXX XXCD FEDE XXXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (63%) |
Metre | 11010101 011101111 11101101 1101101 11110101 0101110 1100101 110100010 11000101 010101010 00011101 11011110 1111101 011101110 11111111 111101110 11011101 1101010011 11110101 110101010 11010101 11111110 1010101 11010111 01111111 111111110 11011101 111101010 10110101 01111111 11111111 010111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,122 |
Words | 207 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 112 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 74 Views
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"To De Witt Miller" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13120/to-de-witt-miller>.
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