Analysis of Crying For Bread
Henry Clay Work 1832 (Middletown, Connecticut) – 1884 (Hartford, Connecticut)
"Please, lady! please pay my Ma for her sewing;
The suit fits you splendidly--that you'll allow.
Oh! don't say tomorrow! I see you are going;
But this will not hinder long--please pay me now.
Ma work'd all night for you! ev'ry minute;
Now she lies groaning with pain in her head;
And there by the pantry (with not a thing in it),
Sits poor little Theodore crying for bread!
Poor little Theodore crying for bread!"
"On! driver, on! they have all gone before us,
And I will not be late at the ball," Beauty said;
And wintry winds echoed her answer in chorus
With poor little Theodore crying for bread!
Poor little Theodore crying for bread!
"Please lady! please pay my Ma for her sewing;
I'll run and get change for you. Don't call me bold--
But how could you dance tonight all the time knowing
That we were left suffering, hungry and cold?
Ma looks so wild! she keeps calling for Daisy;
That was the name of my sister that's dead.
Oh! what shall I do, with my Ma going crazy,
And poor little Theodore cryiing for bread?
Poor little Theodore crying for bread!"
"Please lady! please pay my Ma for her sewing;
She must have some medicine--that let me buy.
Now, don't speak of beggars! 'tis money you're owing:
Do please, pay me part of it--else we must die."
On the wheels roll'd, and Fidele returned weeping;
Ah! in her absence a spirit had fled,
And morning light found her a weary watch keeping,
With poor little Theodore crying for bread!
Poor little Theodore crying for bread!"
Scheme | AbabxcxcC dcdCC AeaefcfcC AgagacaCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011111010 01111001101 11101111110 11111011111 111111110 1111011001 011010110101 1110101011 110101011 11011111011 011111101101 010110010010 1110101011 110101011 11011111010 11011111111 111110110110 11011001001 11111110110 1101111011 111111111010 011010111 110101011 11011111010 11111001111 111110110110 11111111111 1011010110 1001001011 010110010110 1110101011 110101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,455 |
Words | 276 |
Sentences | 28 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 5, 9, 9 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 282 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 67 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 27, 2023
- 1:24 min read
- 98 Views
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"Crying For Bread" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17259/crying-for-bread>.
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