Analysis of Dearth
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
I hold your trembling hand to-night-- and yet
I may not know what wealth of bliss is mine,
My heart is such a curious design
Of trust and jealousy! Your eyes are wet--
So must I think they jewel some regret--,
And lo, the loving arms that round me twine
Cling only as the tendrils of a vine
Whose fruit has long been gathered: I forget,
While crimson clusters of your kisses press
Their wine out on my lips, my royal fair
Of rapture, since blind fancy needs must guess
They once poured out their sweetness otherwhere,
With fuller flavoring of happiness
Than e'en your broken sobs may now declare.
Scheme | ABBAABBACDCDED |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110011101 1111111111 1111010001 1101001111 1111110101 0101011111 110101101 1111110101 1101011101 1111111101 1101110111 11111101 1101001100 11111011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 591 |
Words | 112 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 469 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 110 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 61 Views
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"Dearth" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20862/dearth>.
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