Analysis of The Summer Girl
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
She's the jauntiest of creatures, she's the daintiest of misses,
With her pretty patent leathers or her alligator ties,
With her eyes inviting glances and her lips inviting kisses,
As she wanders by the ocean or strolls under country skies.
She's a captivating dresser, and her parasols are stunning,
Her fads will-take your breath away, her hats are dreams of style;
She is not so very bookish, but with repartee and punning
She can set the savants laughing and make even dudelets smile.
She has no attacks of talent, she is not a stage-struck maiden;
She is wholly free from hobbies, and she dreams of no 'career;'
She is mostly gay and happy, never sad or care-beladen,
Though she sometimes sighs a little if a gentleman is near.
She's a sturdy little walker and she braves all kinds of weather,
And when the rain or fog or mist drive rival crimps a-wreck,
Her fluffy hair goes curling like a kinked-up ostrich feather
Around her ears and forehead and the white nape of her neck.
She is like a fish in water; she can handle reins and racket;
From head to toe and finger-tips she's thoroughly alive;
When she goes promenading in a most distracting jacket,
The rustle round her feet suggests how laundresses may thrive.
She can dare the wind and sunshine in the most bravado manner,
And after hours of sailing she has merely cheeks of rose;
Old Sol himself seems smitten and at most will only tan her,
Though to everybody else he gives a danger-signal nose.
She's a trifle sentimental, and she's fond of admiration,
And she sometimes flirts a little in the season's giddy whirl;
But win her if you can, sir, she may prove your life's salvation,
For an angel masquerading oft is she, the summer girl.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH XIXI GJGJ EKEK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 101110101110 10101010101001 1010101000101010 111010101110101 1010010001110 01111101011111 11111010110101 11101010011011 1110111011101110 111011100111101 11101010101111 110110101010011 1010101001111110 01011111110101 010111010111010 01010100011101 1110101011101010 11110101110001 111100101010 010101011111 111010100101010 010101101110111 110111001111010 11100111010101 10100100111010 010110100010101 110111111111010 11100101110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 1,681 |
Words | 305 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 48 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 192 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 14, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 45 Views
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"The Summer Girl" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10906/the-summer-girl>.
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