Analysis of The Island Of Endless Play
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Said Willie to Tom 'Let us hie away
To the wonderful Island of Endless Play.
It lies off the border of 'No School Land'
And abounds with pleasures, I understand.
There boys go swimming whenever they please
In a lovely river right under the trees.
And marbles are free, no one has to buy;
And kites of all sizes are ready to fly.
We sail down the Isthmus of Idle Delight,
We sail and we sail for a day and a night.
And then if favored by billows and breeze
We land in the harbor of Do-as-you-please.
And their lies the Island of Endless Play
With no one to say to us Must or Nay.
Books are not known in that land so fair,
Teachers are stoned if they set foot there.
Hurrah for the Island so glad and free,
That is the country for you and me.'
So away went Willie and Tom together
On a pleasure boat, in the lazy weather,
And they sailed in the teeth of a friendly breeze
Right into the harbor of 'Do-as-you-please!'
Where boats and tackle and marbles and kites
Were waiting them there in this Land of Delights.
They dwelt on the Island of Endless Play
For five long years; then one sad day
A strange dark ship sailed up to the strand,
And 'Ho! for the voyage to Stupid Land.'
The Captain cried with a terrible noise
As he seized the frightened and struggling boys,
And threw them into the dark Ship's hold,
And off and away sailed the Captain bold.
They vainly begged him to let them out,
He answered only with scoff and shout.
'Boys that don't study or work,' said he,
'Must sail one day down the Ignorant Sea
To Stupid Land by the No-Book strait,
With Captain Time on the Pitiless Fate.'
Then he let out the sails and away went the three,
Over the waters of Ignorant Sea.
Out and away to Stupid Land,
And they live there yet, I understand.
And there's where every one goes, they say,
Who seeks the Island of Endless Play.
Scheme | AA BB CC DD EE CC AA FF GG HHCCIIAABB JJKK LL GG MM GG BBAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101111101 10100101101 1110101111 001110101 1111001011 00101011001 0101111111 01111011011 11101011001 11011101001 0111011001 11001011111 0110101101 1111111111 111101111 101111111 0110101101 110101101 10111001010 10101001010 01100110101 10101011111 1101001001 01011011101 1110101101 11111111 011111101 0110101101 0101101001 11101001001 011010111 0100110101 110111111 110101101 111101111 1111101001 110110111 1101101001 111101001101 1001011001 10011101 01111101 0111001111 110101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,787 |
Words | 357 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 16 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 10, 4, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 88 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:46 min read
- 84 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Island Of Endless Play" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10853/the-island-of-endless-play>.
Discuss this Ella Wheeler Wilcox 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