Analysis of A Variation

James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)



I am tired of this!
Nothing else but loving!
Nothing else but kiss and kiss,
Coo, and turtle-doving!
Can't you change the order some?
Hate me just a little--come!

Lay aside your 'dears,'
'Darlings,' 'kings,' and 'princes!'--
Call me knave, and dry your tears--
Nothing in me winces,--
Call me something low and base--
Something that will suit the case!

Wish I had your eyes
And their drooping lashes!
I would dry their teary lies
Up with lightning-flashes--
Make your sobbing lips unsheathe
All the glitter of your teeth!

Can't you lift one word--
With some pang of laughter--
Louder than the drowsy bird
Crooning 'neath the rafter?
Just one bitter word, to shriek
Madly at me as I speak!

How I hate the fair
Beauty of your forehead!
How I hate your fragrant hair!
How I hate the torrid
Touches of your splendid lips,
And the kiss that drips and drips!

Ah, you pale at last!
And your face is lifted
Like a white sail to the blast,
And your hands are shifted
Into fists: and, towering thus,
You are simply glorious!

Now before me looms
Something more than human;
Something more than beauty blooms
In the wrath of Woman--
Something to bow down before
Reverently and adore.


Scheme ABABCC AXXADD EFEFGG HIHIJJ KXKLMM NLNLOO PQPQRR
Poetic Form
Metre 111011 101110 1011101 10101 1110101 1110101 10111 101010 1110111 10011 1110101 1011101 11111 011010 1111101 111010 111011 1010111 11111 111110 1010101 101010 1110111 1011111 11101 101110 1111101 111010 1011101 0011101 11111 011110 1011101 011110 01101001 1110100 10111 101110 1011101 001110 1011101 1000001
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,137
Words 216
Sentences 18
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 42
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 128
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:04 min read
123

James Whitcomb Riley

James Whitcomb Riley was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry respectively. more…

All James Whitcomb Riley poems | James Whitcomb Riley Books

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