Analysis of A Prospective Visit
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
While _any_ day was notable and dear
That gave the children Noey, history here
Records his advent emphasized indeed
With sharp italics, as he came to feed
The stock one special morning, fair and bright,
When Johnty and Bud met him, with delight
Unusual even as their extra dress--
Garbed as for holiday, with much excess
Of proud self-consciousness and vain conceit
In their new finery.--Far up the street
They called to Noey, as he came, that they,
As promised, both were going back that day
To _his_ house with him!
And by time that each
Had one of Noey's hands--ceasing their speech
And coyly anxious, in their new attire,
To wake the comment of their mute desire,--
Noey seemed rendered voiceless. Quite a while
They watched him furtively.--He seemed to smile
As though he would conceal it; and they saw
Him look away, and his lips purse and draw
In curious, twitching spasms, as though he might
Be whispering,--while in his eye the white
Predominated strangely.--Then the spell
Gave way, and his pent speech burst audible:
'They wuz two stylish little boys,
and they wuz mighty bold ones,
Had two new pairs o' britches made
out o' their daddy's old ones!'
And at the inspirational outbreak,
Both joker and his victims seemed to take
An equal share of laughter,--and all through
Their morning visit kept recurring to
The funny words and jingle of the rhyme
That just kept getting funnier all the time.
Scheme | XXAABBCCDDEEX FFGGHHIIBBXXXJXJKKLLMM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (26%) |
Metre | 111110001 1101011001 01111001 1101011111 0111010101 110111101 0101011101 11110111 1111000101 0111001101 111111111 1101010111 11111 01111 111111011 01010011010 11010111010 111010101 1111001111 1111011011 1101011101 010010101111 1100101101 010010101 1101111100 11110101 0111011 11111101 1111011 01001001 1100110111 1101110011 1101010101 0101010101 11110100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,379 |
Words | 253 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 13, 22 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 554 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 122 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:16 min read
- 71 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Prospective Visit" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20795/a-prospective-visit>.
Discuss this James Whitcomb Riley poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In