Analysis of Seein' things
Eugene Field 1850 (St. Louis) – 1895 (Chicago)
I ain't afeard uv snakes, or toads, or bugs, or worms, or mice,
An' things 'at girls are skeered uv I think are awful nice!
I'm pretty brave, I guess; an' yet I hate to go to bed,
For, when I'm tucked up warm an' snug an' when my prayers are said,
Mother tells me "Happy dreams!" and takes away the light,
An' leaves me lyin' all alone an' seein' things at night!
Sometimes they're in the corner, sometimes they're by the door,
Sometimes they're all a-standin' in the middle uv the floor;
Sometimes they are a-sittin' down, sometimes they're walkin' round
So softly an' so creepylike they never make a sound!
Sometimes they are as black as ink, an' other times they're white -
But the color ain't no difference when you see things at night!
Once, when I licked a feller 'at had just moved on our street,
An' father sent me up to bed without a bite to eat,
I woke up in the dark an' saw things standin' in a row,
A-lookin' at me cross-eyed an' p'intin' at me - so!
Oh, my! I wuz so skeered that time I never slep' a mite -
It's almost alluz when I'm bad I see things at night!
Lucky thing I ain't a girl, or I'd be skeered to death!
Bein' I'm a boy, I duck my head an' hold my breath;
An' I am, oh! so sorry I'm a naughty boy, an' then
I promise to be better an' I say my prayers again!
Gran'ma tells me that's the only way to make it right
When a feller has been wicked an' sees things at night!
An' so, when other naughty boys would coax me into sin,
I try to skwush the Tempter's voice 'at urges me within;
An' when they's pie for supper, or cakes 'at 's big an' nice,
I want to - but I do not pass my plate f'r them things twice!
No, ruther let Starvation wipe me slowly out o' sight
Than I should keep a-livin' on an' seein' things at night!
Scheme | AABBCC DDEECC FFGGCC HHIICCJJAACC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111111111 1111111111101 11011111111111 11111111111111 1011101010101 111110111111 0110010011101 0111010010101 011101101111 110111110101 01111111110111 101011100111111 111101011111101 11011111010111 1110011111001 01111111111 11111111110101 11111111111 1011101111111 110111111111 11111101010111 11011101111101 1111101011111 1010111011111 11110101111011 1111011110101 11111101111111 111111111111111 11010101110111 111101111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,724 |
Words | 353 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 12 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 43 |
Words per line (avg) | 12 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 320 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 88 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:52 min read
- 367 Views
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"Seein' things" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13035/seein%27-things>.
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