Analysis of Breaking The Day In Two

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919



When from dawn till noon seems one long day,
And from noon till night another,
Oh, then should a little boy come from play,
And creep into the arms of his mother.
Snugly creep and fall asleep,
O come, my baby, do;
Creep into my lap, and with a nap,
We'll break the day in two.

When the shadows slant for afternoon,
When the midday meal is over;
When the winds have sung themselves into a swoon,
And the bees drone in the clover.
Then hie to me, hie, for a lullaby-
Come, my baby, do;
Creep into my lap, and with a nap
We'll break the day in two.

We'll break it in two with a crooning song,
With a soft and soothing number;
For the day has no right to be so long
And keep my baby from slumber.
Then rock-a-by, rock, may white dreams flock
Like angels over you;
Baby's gone, and the deed is done
We've broken the day in two.


Scheme ababxcDC ebebxcDC fbfbxcxc
Poetic Form
Metre 111111111 01111010 1110101111 0101011110 1010101 111101 101110101 110101 1011101 1011110 10111010101 00110010 111111010 11101 101110101 110101 1110110101 10101010 1011111111 01110110 110111111 110101 10100111 1100101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 807
Words 167
Sentences 7
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 206
Words per stanza (avg) 55
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

51 sec read
76

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet. more…

All Ella Wheeler Wilcox poems | Ella Wheeler Wilcox Books

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    Quiz

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    What is the term for the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
    A Dithyramb
    B Enjambment
    C A turn
    D Line break