Analysis of The Pitcher
La Fontaine 1621 (Château-Thierry, Champagne) – 1695 (Neuilly-sur-Seine, Île-de-France)
THE simple Jane was sent to bring
Fresh water from the neighb'ring spring;
The matter pressed, no time to waste,
Jane took her jug, and ran in haste
The well to reach, but in her flurry
(The more the speed the worse the hurry),
Tripped on a rolling stone, and broke
Her precious pitcher,--ah! no joke!
Nay, grave mishap! 'twere better far
To break her neck than such a jar!
Her dame would beat and soundly rate her,
No way could Jane propitiate her.
Without a sou new jug to buy!
'Twere better far for her to die!
O'erwhelmed by grief and cruel fears
Unhappy Jane burst into tears
"I can't go home without the delf,"
Sobbed Jane, "I'd rather kill myself;
"So here am I resolved to die."
A friendly neighbour passing by
O'erheard our damsel's lamentation;
And kindly offered consolation:
"If death, sweet maiden, be thy bent,
"I'll aid thee in thy sad intent."
Throwing her down, he drew his dirk,
And plunged it in the maid,--a work
You'll say was cruel,--not so Jane,
Who even seemed to like the pain,
And hoped to be thus stabbed again.
Amid the weary world's alarms,
For some e'en death will have its charms;
"If this, my friend, is how you kill,
"Of breaking jugs I'll have my fill!"
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGHIJJGGKKLLMMKKKNNOO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011111 1101011 01011111 11010101 011110010 010101010 11010101 01010111 1111101 11011101 011101010 111110 01011111 11011011 1110101 01011011 11110101 1111011 11110111 0101101 11011 01010010 11110111 11101101 10011111 01100101 11110111 11011101 01111101 01010101 111111111 11111111 11011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,185 |
Words | 227 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 33 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 898 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 218 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 04, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 87 Views
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"The Pitcher" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25376/the-pitcher>.
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