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?
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on April 08, 2023

57 sec read
5

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBB CCDDD EEFFF GGBBB
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 912
Words 192
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5

James Whitcomb Riley

James Whitcomb Riley was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry respectively. more…

All James Whitcomb Riley poems | James Whitcomb Riley Books

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    "A Discouraging Model." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/55737/a-discouraging-model.>.

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