Analysis of Life
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
Acrust of bread and a corner to sleep in,
A minute to smile and an hour to weep in,
A pint of joy to a peck of trouble,
And never a laugh but the moans come double;
And that is life!
A crust and a corner that love makes precious,
With a smile to warm and the tears to refresh us;
And joy seems sweeter when cares come after,
And a moan is the finest of foils for laughter;
And that is life!
| Scheme | aabbC ddeeC |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 1110010110 010110110110 0111101110 01001101110 0111 01001011110 101110011011 0111011110 001101011110 0111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
| Characters | 397 |
| Words | 85 |
| Sentences | 3 |
| Stanzas | 2 |
| Stanza Lengths | 5, 5 |
| Lines Amount | 10 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
| Words per line (avg) | 8 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 149 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 11, 2023
- 25 sec read
- 206 Views
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"Life" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28767/life>.
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