Analysis of At Crown Hill

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



Leave him here in the fresh
greening grasses and trees
And the symbols of love, and the solace of these-
The saintly white lilies and blossoms he keeps
In endless caress as
he breathlessly sleeps.
The tears of our eyes wrong the scene of his rest,
For the sky's at its clearest-the sun's at its best-
The earth at its greenest- its wild bud and bloom
At its sweetest-and sweetest its honey'd perfume.
Home! Home!-Leave him here in his lordly estate,
And with never a tear as we turn from the gate!
Turn back to the home that will know him no more,-
The vines at the window-the sun through the door,-
Nor sound of his voice, nor the light of his face!...
But the birds will sing on, and the rose, in his place,
Will tenderly smile til we daringly feign
He is home with us still, though the tremulous rain
Of our tears reappear, and again all is bloom,
And all prayerless we sob in the long-darkened room.
Heaven portions it thus-the old mystery dim,-
It is midnight to us-it is morning to him


Scheme ABBCDCEEFFGGHHIIJJFFKK
Poetic Form
Metre 111001 101001 001011001011 01011001011 010011 11001 011101101111 101111001111 01111011101 11100101101 1111101101 011001111101 11101111111 01101001101 11111101111 101111001011 110011111 111111101001 110101001111 01111001101 101011011001 11111111011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 979
Words 192
Sentences 8
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 22
Lines Amount 22
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 767
Words per stanza (avg) 186
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

58 sec read
50

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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