Analysis of Natural Perversities
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
I am not prone to moralize
In scientific doubt
On certain facts that Nature tries
To puzzle us about,--
For I am no philosopher
Of wise elucidation,
But speak of things as they occur,
From simple observation.
I notice LITTLE things--to wit:--
I never missed a train
Because I didn't RUN for it;
I never knew it rain
That my umbrella wasn't lent,--
Or, when in my possession,
The sun but wore, to all intent,
A jocular expression.
I never knew a creditor
To dun me for a debt
But I was 'cramped' or 'bu'sted'; or
I never knew one yet,
When I had plenty in my purse,
To make the least invasion,--
As I, accordingly perverse,
Have courted no occasion.
Nor do I claim to comprehend
What Nature has in view
In giving us the very friend
To trust we oughtn't to.--
But so it is: The trusty gun
Disastrously exploded
Is always sure to be the one
We didn't think was loaded.
Our moaning is another's mirth,--
And what is worse by half,
We say the funniest thing on earth
And never raise a laugh:
'Mid friends that love us over well,
And sparkling jests and liquor,
Our hearts somehow are liable
To melt in tears the quicker.
We reach the wrong when most we seek
The right; in like effect,
We stay the strong and not the weak--
Do most when we neglect.--
Neglected genius--truth be said--
As wild and quick as tinder,
The more you seek to help ahead
The more you seem to hinder.
I've known the least the greatest, too--
And, on the selfsame plan,
The biggest fool I ever knew
Was quite a little man:
We find we ought, and then we won't--
We prove a thing, then doubt it,--
Know EVERYTHING but when we don't
Know ANYTHING about it.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EDEDFDFD CGXGHDHD IJIJDKDK LMLMXCXC NONOPCPC JDDDQEQE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111110 00101 11011101 110101 11110100 111 11111101 110010 11010111 110101 01110111 110111 11010101 1101010 01111101 0100010 11010100 111101 1111111 110111 11110011 1101010 11010001 1101010 1111101 110101 01010101 111101 11110101 0100010 1111101 1101110 101010101 011111 110100111 010101 11111101 0101010 10111100 1101010 11011111 010101 11010101 111101 01010111 1101110 01111101 0111110 11010101 01011 01011101 110101 11110111 1101111 1101111 110011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,573 |
Words | 317 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 176 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 07, 2023
- 1:37 min read
- 82 Views
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"Natural Perversities" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20978/natural-perversities>.
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