Analysis of When My Dreams Come True
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
When my dreams come true--when my dreams come true--
Shall I lean from out my casement, in the starlight and the dew,
To listen--smile and listen to the tinkle of the strings
Of the sweet guitar my lover's fingers fondle, as he sings?
And as the nude moon slowly, slowly shoulders into view,
Shall I vanish from his vision--when my dreams come true?
When my dreams come true--shall the simple gown I wear
Be changed to softest satin, and my maiden-braided hair
Be raveled into flossy mists of rarest, fairest gold,
To be minted into kisses, more than any heart can hold?--
Or 'the summer of my tresses' shall my lover liken to
'The fervor of his passion'--when my dreams come true?
When my dreams come true--I shall bide among the sheaves
Of happy harvest meadows; and the grasses and the leaves
Shall lift and lean between me and the splendor of the sun,
Till the noon swoons into twilight, and the gleaners' work is done--
Save that yet an arm shall bind me, even as the reapers do
The meanest sheaf of harvest--when my dreams come true.
When my dreams come true! when my dreams come true!
True love in all simplicity is fresh and pure as dew;--
The blossom in the blackest mold is kindlier to the eye
Than any lily born of pride that looms against the sky:
And so it is I know my heart will gladly welcome you,
My lowliest of lovers, when my dreams come true.
Scheme | AABBAA CCDDAA EEFFAA AAGGAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111111 1111111001001 11010101010101 101011101010111 01011101010011 1110111011111 111111010111 11110100110101 1100111110101 111001101110111 101011101110101 01011111111 111111110101 1101010010001 11010110010101 1011011001111 11111111101011 010111011111 1111111111 11010100110111 0100010111101 11010111110101 01111111110101 1111011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,352 |
Words | 258 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 44 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 264 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 63 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 125 Views
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"When My Dreams Come True" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21184/when-my-dreams-come-true>.
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