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 Views
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"A Variation" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20809/a-variation>.
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