Analysis of As My Uncle Used To Say
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
I've thought a power on men and things,
As my uncle ust to say,--
And ef folks don't work as they pray, i jings!
W'y, they ain't no use to pray!
Ef you want somepin', and jes dead-set
A-pleadin' fer it with both eyes wet,
And _tears_ won't bring it, w'y, you try _sweat_,
As my uncle ust to say.
They's some don't know their A, B, Cs,
As my uncle ust to say,
And yit don't waste no candle-grease,
Ner whistle their lives away!
But ef they can't write no book, ner rhyme
No ringin' song fer to last all time,
They can blaze the way fer the march sublime,
As my uncle ust to say.
Whoever's Foreman of all things here,
As my uncle ust to say,
He knows each job 'at we 're best fit fer,
And our round-up, night and day:
And a-sizin' _His_ work, east and west,
And north and south, and worst and best
I ain't got nothin' to suggest,
As my uncle ust to say.
Scheme | aBabcccB aBxbdddB xBxbeeeB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110101101 1110111 0111111111 1001111111 11110111 01111111 011111001111 1110111 11111011 1110111 01111101 1101101 111111111 11111111 1110110101 1110111 010101111 1110111 1111111111 01011101 00111101 01010101 11110101 1110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 836 |
Words | 175 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 207 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 57 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 122 Views
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"As My Uncle Used To Say" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20827/as-my-uncle-used-to-say>.
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