Analysis of If I Knew What Poets Know
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
If I knew what poets know,
Would I write a rhyme
Of the buds that never blow
In the summer-time?
Would I sing of golden seeds
Springing up in ironweeds?
And of rain-drops turned to snow,
If I knew what poets know?
Did I know what poets do,
Would I sing a song
Sadder than the pigeon's coo
When the days are long?
Where I found a heart in pain,
I would make it glad again;
And the false should be the true,
Did I know what poets do.
If I knew what poets know,
I would find a theme
Sweeter than the placid flow
Of the fairest dream:
I would sing of love that lives
On the errors it forgives;
And the world would better grow
If I knew what poets know.
Scheme | AbabccaA DedexxdD AfafggaA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111101 11101 1011101 00101 1111101 10101 0111111 1111101 1111101 11101 1010101 10111 1110101 1111101 0011101 1111101 1111101 11101 1010101 10101 1111111 1010101 0011101 1111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 633 |
Words | 135 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 166 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 78 Views
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"If I Knew What Poets Know" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20915/if-i-knew-what-poets-know>.
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