Analysis of His Wife and Baby
Isabella Valancy Crawford 1850 (Dublin) – 1887 (Toronto)
In the lone place of the leaves,
Where they touch the hanging eaves,
There sprang a spray of joyous song that sounded sweet and sturdy;
And the baby in the bed
Raised the shining of his head,
And pulled the mother's lids apart to wake and watch the birdie.
She kissed lip-dimples sweet,
The red soles of his feet,
The waving palms that patted hers as wind-blown blossoms wander;
He twined her tresses silk
Round his neck as white as milk
'Now, baby, say what birdie sings upon his green spray yonder.'
'He sings a plenty things
Just watch him wash his wings!
He says Papa will march to-day with drums home through the city.
Here, birdie, here's my cup.
You drink the milk all up;
I'll kiss you, birdie, now you're washed like baby clean and pretty.'
She rose, she sought the skies
With the twin joys of her eyes;
She sent the strong dove of her soul up through the dawning's glory;
She kissed upon her hand
The glowing golden band
That bound the fine scroll of her life and clasped her simple story.
Scheme | AABCCBDDEFFE GGBHHB IIBJJB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0011101 1110101 110111011101010 0010001 1010111 010101011101010 111101 011111 010111001111010 110101 1111111 110111010111110 110101 111111 111011111111010 110111 110111 111101111101010 111101 1011101 11011101110110 110101 010101 110111010101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,060 |
Words | 190 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 259 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 62 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 57 sec read
- 102 Views
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"His Wife and Baby" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/19899/his-wife-and-baby>.
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