Analysis of Little Boy Blue

Eugene Field 1850 (St. Louis) – 1895 (Chicago)



The little toy dog is covered with dust,
 But sturdy and stanch he stands;
And the little toy soldier is red with rust,
 And his musket molds in his hands.
Time was when the little toy dog was new
 And the soldier was passing fair,
And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue
 Kissed them and put them there.

"Now, don't you go till I come," he said,
 "And don't you make any noise!"
So toddling off to his trundle-bed
 He dreamed of the pretty toys.
And as he was dreaming, an angel song
 Awakened our Little Boy Blue,--
Oh, the years are many, the years are long,
 But the little toy friends are true.

Ay, faithful to Little Boy Blue they stand,
 Each in the same old place,
Awaiting the touch of a little hand,
 The smile of a little face.
And they wonder, as waiting these long years through,
 In the dust of that little chair,
What has become of our Little Boy Blue
 Since he kissed them and put them there.


Scheme ABABCDCD EFEFGCGC HIHICDCD
Poetic Form
Metre 0101111011 1100111 00101101111 01101011 1110101111 00101101 011011101011 110111 111111111 0111101 110111101 1110101 0111101101 010101011 1011100111 10101111 1101101111 100111 0100110101 0110101 01101101111 00111101 11011101011 11110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 900
Words 181
Sentences 8
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 231
Words per stanza (avg) 59
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

54 sec read
1,071

Eugene Field

Eugene Field, Sr. was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. more…

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