Analysis of Then, When You Were Sweet Sixteen
I recall a day, a sky-blue day,
Still in my head, yet far away.
When first you led my mind astray
And left me vanquished, come what may,
The day I saw you cool, serene;
When you were simply sweet sixteen.
For, as swinging years were new
And careless days, about us, grew
And you walked, sudden, into view
Along the leafy avenue.
The day I saw you cool, serene;
When you were simply sweet sixteen.
Your hair shone brightly in the light,
As noonday sun had reached its height;
As you came dancing into sight
And I would gaze, as well I might,
The day I saw you cool, serene;
When you were simply sweet sixteen.
I knew that from that moment, there,
A certain stirring charged the air
And by that lime tree yonder, where,
You passed me by without a care.
The day I saw you cool, serene;
When you were simply sweet sixteen.
And thoughts came flooding, unforeseen,
And such a day had never been.
Yet still, the thrill is evergreen
When you were, then, the Maytime Queen.
The day I saw you cool, serene;
When you were simply sweet sixteen.
Scheme | aaaaBB ccccBB ddddBB eeeeBB bxbbBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (33%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11010111 10111101 11111101 01110111 01111101 11010101 1110101 01010111 01110011 0101010 01111101 11010101 11110001 1111111 11110011 01111111 01111101 11010101 11111101 01010101 01111101 11110101 01111101 11010101 0111001 01011101 1101110 1101011 01111101 11010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,003 |
Words | 195 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 159 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
About this poem
These five, strictly rhyming, sestets with refrain were inspired by an 1898 (pub.) Vaudeville song written by American James Thornton. The author wrote this piece in 2021.
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"Then, When You Were Sweet Sixteen" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/105351/then%2C-when-you-were-sweet-sixteen>.
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