Analysis of James Whitcomb Riley
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
(From a Westerner's Point of View.)
No matter what you call it,
Whether genius, or art,
He sings the simple songs that come
The closest to your heart.
Fur trim an' skillful phrases,
I do not keer a jot;
'Tain't the words alone, but feelin's,
That tech the tender spot.
An' that's jest why I love him,--
Why, he's got sech human feelin',
An' in ev'ry song he gives us,
You kin see it creepin', stealin',
Through the core the tears go tricklin',
But the edge is bright an' smiley;
I never saw a poet
Like that poet Whitcomb Riley.
His heart keeps beatin' time with our'n
In measures fast or slow;
He tells us jest the same ol' things
Our souls have learned to know.
He paints our joys an' sorrers
In a way so stric'ly true,
That a body can't help knowin'
That he has felt them too.
If there's a lesson to be taught,
He never fears to teach it,
An' he puts the food so good an' low
That the humblest one kin reach it.
Now in our time, when poets rhyme
For money, fun, or fashion,
'Tis good to hear one voice so clear
That thrills with honest passion.
So let the others build their songs,
An' strive to polish highly,--
There's none of them kin tech the heart
Like our own Whitcomb Riley.
Scheme | A BCXCDEDEXFXFFGXG FHXFDAFAXBHBXFXFXGCG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101111 1101111 101011 11010111 010111 1111010 111101 1010111 110101 1111111 1111101 1011111 111111 1010111 10111110 1101010 11101010 111111101 010111 11110111 1011111 1110111 001111 1010111 111111 11010111 1101111 111011111 101001111 101011101 1101110 11111111 1111010 11010111 1111010 11111101 11011010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,156 |
Words | 234 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 16, 20 |
Lines Amount | 37 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 296 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 76 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 145 Views
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"James Whitcomb Riley" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28757/james-whitcomb-riley>.
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