Analysis of Come Home, Father!
Henry Clay Work 1832 (Middletown, Connecticut) – 1884 (Hartford, Connecticut)
'Tis The
SONG OF LITTLE MARY,
Standing at the bar-room door
While the shameful midnight revel
Rages wildly as before.
Father, dear father, come home with me now!
The clock in the steeple strikes one;
You said you were coming right home from the shop,
As soon as your day's work was done.
Our fire has gone out our house is all dark
And mother's been watching since tea, --
With poor brother Benny so sick in her arms,
And no one to help her but me. --
Come home! come home! come home! --
Please, father, dear father, come home. --
Hear the sweet voice of the child
Which the night winds repeat as they roam!
Oh who could resist this most plaintive of prayers?
"Please, father, dear father, come home."
Father, dear father, come home with me now!
The clock in the steeple strikes two;
The night has grown colder, and Benny is worse
But he has been calling for you.
Indeed he is worse Ma says he will die,
Perhaps before morning shall dawn; --
And this is the message she sent me to bring
"Come quickly, or he will be gone." --
Come home! come home! come home! --
Please, father, dear father, come home. --
Hear the sweet voice of the child
Which the night winds repeat as they roam!
Oh who could resist this most plaintive of prayers?
"Please, father, dear father, come home."
Father, dear father, come home with me now!
The clock in the steeple strikes three;
The house is so lonely the hours are so long
For poor weeping mother and me.
Yes, we are alone poor Benny is dead,
And gone with the angels of light; --
And these were the very last words that he said
"I want to kiss Papa good night." --
Come home! come home! come home! --
Please, father, dear father, come home. --
Hear the sweet voice of the child
Which the night winds repeat as they roam!
Oh who could resist this most plaintive of prayers?
"Please, father, dear father, come home."
Scheme | xabxb CdxdxaxaEE FEGE ChxhxixiEE FEGE CaxajkjkEE FEGE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10 111010 1010111 1010110 1010101 1011011111 01001011 11101011101 11111111 1010111101111 01011011 11101011001 01111011 111111 11011011 1011101 101101111 11101111011 11011011 1011011111 01001011 01111001011 11111011 0111111111 01011011 01101011111 11011111 111111 11011011 1011101 101101111 11101111011 11011011 1011011111 01001011 011110010111 11101001 1110111011 01101011 01001011111 11111011 111111 11011011 1011101 101101111 11101111011 11011011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,818 |
Words | 356 |
Sentences | 32 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 10, 4, 10, 4, 10, 4 |
Lines Amount | 47 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 199 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 50 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 09, 2023
- 1:46 min read
- 51 Views
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"Come Home, Father!" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17254/come-home%2C-father%21>.
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