Analysis of A Discouraging Model.
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
Just the airiest, fairiest slip of a thing,
With a Gainsborough hat, like a butterfly's wing,
Tilted up at one side with the jauntiest air,
And a knot of red roses sown in under there
Where the shadows are lost in her hair.
Then a cameo face, carven in on a ground
Of that shadowy hair where the roses are wound;
And the gleam of a smile O as fair and as faint
And as sweet as the masters of old used to paint
Round the lips of their favorite saint!
And that lace at her throat - and the fluttering hands
Snowing there, with a grace that no art understands,
The flakes of their touches - first fluttering at
The bow - then the roses - the hair - and then that
Little tilt of the Gainsborough hat.
O what artist on earth with a model like this,
Holding not on his palette the tint of a kiss,
Nor a pigment to hint of the hue of her hair,
Nor the gold of her smile - O what artist could dare
To expect a result half so fair?
Scheme | AABBB CCDDD EEFFF GGBBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 10111101 101110101 1011111011 001111010101 10111001 1010110101 111001101011 001101111011 011101011111 101111001 011101001001 10110111101 01111011001 01101001011 1011011 111011101011 101111001101 101011101101 101101111011 101001111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 912 |
Words | 192 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 178 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 47 |
Font size:
Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on April 08, 2023
- 57 sec read
- 5 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Discouraging Model." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/55737/a-discouraging-model.>.
Discuss this James Whitcomb Riley poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In