Analysis of A Naughty Little Comet
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
There was a little comet who lived near the Milky Way!
She loved to wander out at night and jump about and play.
The mother of the comet was a very good old star;
She used to scold her reckless child for venturing out too far.
She told her of the ogre, Sun, who loved on stars to sup,
And who asked no better pastime than in gobbling comets up.
But instead of growing cautious and of showing proper fear,
The foolish little comet edged up nearer, and more near.
She switched her saucy tail along right where the Sun could see,
And flirted with old Mars, and was as bold as bold could be.
She laughed to scorn the quiet stars who never frisked about;
She said there was no fun in life unless you ventured out.
She liked to make the planets stare, and wished no better mirth
Than just to see the telescopes aimed at her from the Earth.
She wondered how so many stars could mope through nights and days,
And let the sickly faced old Moon get all the love and praise.
And as she talked and tossed her head and switched her shining trail
The staid old mother star grew sad, her cheek grew wan and pale.
For she had lived there in the skies a million years or more,
And she had heard gay comets talk in just this way before.
And by and by there came an end to this gay comet's fun.
She went a tiny bit too far-and vanished in the Sun!
No more she swings her shining trail before the whole world's sight,
But quiet stars she laughed to scorn are twinkling every night.
Scheme | AA BB CC DD EE FF GG HH II JJ KK LL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Couplet |
Metre | 11010101110101 11110111010101 01010101010111 111101011100111 11010101111111 011110110100101 101110100110101 01010101110011 11010101110111 01011101111111 11110101110101 11111101011101 11110101011101 1111010110101 11011101111101 01010111110101 01110101010101 01110111011101 11111001010111 01111101011101 01011111111101 11010111010001 11110101010111 1101111111001001 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,446 |
Words | 287 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 48 |
Words per line (avg) | 12 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 96 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 1:26 min read
- 127 Views
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"A Naughty Little Comet" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10494/a-naughty-little-comet>.
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