Analysis of The Family
Katherine Mansfield 1888 (Wellington) – 1923 (Fontainebleau, Île-de-France)
Hinemoa, Tui, Maina,
All of them were born together;
They are quite an extra special
Set of babies--wax and leather.
Every day they took an airing;
Mummy made them each a bonnet;
Two were cherry, one was yellow
With a bow of ribbon on it.
Really, sometimes we would slap them,
For if ever we were talking,
They would giggle and be silly,
Saying, "Mamma, take us walking."
But we never really loved them
Till one day we left them lying
In the garden--through a hail-storm,
And we heard the poor dears crying.
Half-Past-Six said--"You're a mother!
What if Mummy did forget you?"
So I said, "Well, you're their Father.
Get them!" but I wouldn't let you.
Scheme | XAXA BXXX CBXB CBXB ADAD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (80%) Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1110 11101010 11111010 11101010 100111110 10111010 10101110 10111011 10011111 11101010 11100110 10101110 11101011 11111110 00101011 01101110 11111010 11101011 11111110 11111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 639 |
Words | 122 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 98 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 100 Views
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"The Family" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25143/the-family>.
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