Analysis of My Friend
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
'He is my friend,' I said,--
'Be patient!' Overhead
The skies were drear and dim;
And lo! the thought of him
Smited on my heart--and then
The sun shone out again!
'He is my friend!' The words
Brought summer and the birds;
And all my winter-time
Thawed into running rhyme
And rippled into song,
Warm, tender, brave, and strong.
And so it sings to-day.--
So may it sing alway!
Though waving grasses grow
Between, and lilies blow
Their trills of perfume clear
As laughter to the ear,
Let each mute measure end
With 'Still he is thy friend.'
Scheme | AABBCC DDEEFF XXGGXXHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (35%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 111111 110101 010101 010111 111101 011101 111101 110001 011101 101101 010011 110101 011111 11111 110101 010101 111011 110101 111101 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 526 |
Words | 106 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 8 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 135 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 30 sec read
- 107 Views
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"My Friend" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20974/my-friend>.
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