Analysis of The Pathos Of Applause
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
The greeting of the company throughout
Was like a jubilee,--the children's shout
And fusillading hand-claps, with great guns
And detonations of the older ones,
Raged to such tumult of tempestuous joy,
It even more alarmed than pleased the boy;
Till, with a sudden twitching lip, he slid
Down to the floor and dodged across and hid
His face against his mother as she raised
Him to the shelter of her heart, and praised
His story in low whisperings, and smoothed
The 'amber-colored hair,' and kissed, and soothed
And lulled him back to sweet tranquillity--
'And 'ats a sign 'at you're the Ma fer me!'
He lisped, with gurgling ecstasy, and drew
Her closer, with shut eyes; and feeling, too,
If he could only _purr_ now like a cat,
He would undoubtedly be doing that!
'And now'--the serious host said, lifting there
A hand entreating silence;--'now, aware
Of the good promise of our Traveler guest
To add some story with and for the rest,
I think I favor you, and him as well,
Asking a story I have heard him tell,
And know its truth,in each minute detail:'
Then leaning on his guest's chair, with a hale
Hand-pat by way of full indorsement, he
Said, 'Yes--the Free-Slave story--certainly.'
The old man, with his waddy notebook out,
And glittering spectacles, glanced round about
The expectant circle, and still firmer drew
His hat on, with a nervous cough or two:
And, save at times the big hard words, and tone
Of gathering passion--all the speaker's own,--
The tale that set each childish heart astir
Was thus told by 'The Noted Traveler.'
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFAGHHII JJKKLLMMGG AAHHNNHX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101010001 110100101 0111111 001010101 1111011001 1101011101 1101010111 1101010101 1101110111 1101010101 11001101 0101010101 0111111 0101110111 11110010001 0101110101 1111011101 1101001101 01010011101 01110101 101101101001 1111010101 1111010111 1001011111 011111001 1101111101 11111111 1101110100 011111011 01001001101 00101001101 1111010111 0111011101 11001010101 011111011 1111010100 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,511 |
Words | 279 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 18, 10, 8 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 397 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 89 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:24 min read
- 99 Views
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"The Pathos Of Applause" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21097/the-pathos-of-applause>.
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