Analysis of Recuerdo
Franklin P. Adams 1881 (Chicago, Illinois) – 1960 (New York City, New York)
We were very tired, we were very merry--
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable--
But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,
We lay on a hilltop underneath the moon;
And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.
We were very tired, we were very merry--
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry,
And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,
From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;
And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,
And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.
We were very tired, we were very merry,
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry,
We hailed "Good morrow, mother!" to a shawl-covered head,
And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;
And she wept, "God bless you!" for the apples and pears,
And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.
--EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY, in Poetry.
I was very sad, I was very solemn--
I had worked all day grinding out a column.
I came back from dinner at half-past seven,
And I couldn't think of anything till quarter to eleven;
And then I red "Recuerdo," by Miss Millay,
And I said, "I'll bet a nickel I can write that way."
I was very sad, I was very solemn--
I had worked all day whittling out a column.
I said, "I'll bet a nickel I can chirp such a chant,"
And Mr. Geoffrey Parsons said, "I'll bet you can't."
I bit a chunk of chocolate and found it sweet,
And I listened to the trucking on Frankfort Street.
I was very sad, I was very solemn--
I had worked all day fooling with a column.
I got as far as this and took my verses in
To Mr. Geoffrey Parsons, who said, "Kid, you win."
And--not not that I imagine that anyone'll care--
I blew that jitney on a subway fare.
Scheme | AAbbcc AAddee AAffgga Hhiijj Hhkkll Hhmmdd |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101010101010 111101111010 11101011010 111010101101010 111010101 001011000111 101010101010 111101111010 01111001101 1010111111 0011100111 0011100111 101010101010 111101111010 1111010101101 0101010110111 011111101001 01101101011011 10110010100 11101111010 11111101010 11111011110 011011101101010 011111101 0111101011111 11101111010 11111101010 1111010111101 010101011111 11011100111 011010101101 11101111010 11111101010 111111011100 110101011111 0111101011001 111101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,745 |
Words | 355 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 7, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 37 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 216 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 58 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:46 min read
- 121 Views
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"Recuerdo" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/14153/recuerdo>.
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