Analysis of Old Man Rain

Madison Julius Cawein 1865 ( Louisville, Kentucky) – 1914 ( Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky)



Old Man Rain at the windowpane
Knocks and fumbles and knocks again:
His long-nailed fingers slip and strain:
Old Man Rain at the windowpane
Knocks all night but knocks in vain.
Old Man Rain.

Old Man Rain at the windowpane
Reels and shambles along the lane:
His old gray whiskers drip and drain:
Old Man Rain with fuddled brain
Reels and staggers like one insane.
Old Man Rain.

Old Man Rain is back again,
With old Mis' Wind at the windowpane,
Dancing there with her tattered train:
Her old shawl flaps as she whirls again
In the wildman dance and is torn in twain.
Old Mis' Wind and Old Man Rain.


Scheme AbaAaA AaaaaA baabaa
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010 10100101 11110101 1111010 1111101 111 1111010 10100101 11110101 111111 10101101 111 1111101 11111010 10110101 011111101 0010101101 1110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 587
Words 113
Sentences 7
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 157
Words per stanza (avg) 37
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
125

Madison Julius Cawein

Madison Julius Cawein (March 23, 1865 – December 8, 1914) was a poet from Louisville, Kentucky. more…

All Madison Julius Cawein poems | Madison Julius Cawein Books

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