Analysis of Red Riding-Hood

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



Sweet little myth of the nursery story--
Earliest love of mine infantile breast,
Be something tangible, bloom in thy glory
Into existence, as thou art addressed!
Hasten! appear to me, guileless and good--
Thou are so dear to me, Red Riding-Hood!

Azure-blue eyes, in a marvel of wonder,
Over the dawn of a blush breaking out;
Sensitive nose, with a little smile under
Trying to hide in a blossoming pout--
Couldn't be serious, try as you would,
Little mysterious Red Riding-Hood!

Hah! little girl, it is desolate, lonely,
Out in this gloomy old forest of Life!--
Here are not pansies and buttercups only--
Brambles and briers as keen as a knife;
And a Heart, ravenous, trails in the wood
For the meal have he must,--Red Riding-Hood!


Scheme ABABCC DEDECC AFAFCC
Poetic Form
Metre 11011010010 1001111001 11010010110 0101011101 1001111001 1111111101 10110010110 1001101101 10011010110 1011001001 1011001111 1001001101 11011110010 1011011011 1111001010 100111101 0011001001 1011111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 722
Words 130
Sentences 8
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 188
Words per stanza (avg) 42
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
105

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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