Analysis of Little-Girl-Two-Little-Girls

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



I'm twins, I guess, 'cause my Ma say
I'm two little girls. An' one o' me
Is _Good_ little girl; an' th'other 'n' she
Is _Bad little girl as she can be!_
An' Ma say so, 'most ever' day.

An' she's the _funniest_ Ma! 'Cause when
My Doll won't mind, an' I ist cry,
W'y, nen my Ma she sob an' sigh,
An' say, 'Dear _Good_ little girl, good-bye!--
_Bad_ little girl's comed here again!'

Last time 'at Ma act' thataway,
I cried all to myse'f awhile
Out on the steps, an' nen I smile,
An' git my Doll all fix' in style,
An' go in where Ma's at, an' say:
_'Morning to you, Mommy dear_!
_Where's that Bad little girl wuz here_?
_Bad little girl's goned clean away_,
_An' Good little girl's comed back to stay.'_


Scheme ABBXA CDDDC EFFFADDEX
Poetic Form
Metre 11111111 111011111 111011111011 111011111 11111101 1101111 11111111 10011111111 111110111 11011101 111111 1111101 11011111 11111101 11011111 111101 11110111 1101111 111011111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 690
Words 143
Sentences 10
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 9
Lines Amount 19
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 165
Words per stanza (avg) 46
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

46 sec read
327

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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