Analysis of A New Year's Plaint
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
In words like weeds, I'll wrap me o'er,
Like coarsest clothes against the cold;
But that large grief which these enfold
Is given in outline and no more.
--TENNYSON.
The bells that lift their yawning throats
And lolling tongues with wrangling cries
Flung up in harsh, discordant notes,
As though in anger, at the skies,--
Are filled with echoings replete,
With purest tinkles of delight--
So I would have a something sweet
Ring in the song I sing to-night.
As when a blotch of ugly guise
On some poor artist's naked floor
Becomes a picture in his eyes,
And he forgets that he is poor,--
So I look out upon the night,
That ushers in the dawning year,
And in a vacant blur of light
I see these fantasies appear.
I see a home whose windows gleam
Like facets of a mighty gem
That some poor king's distorted dream
Has fastened in his diadem.
And I behold a throng that reels
In revelry of dance and mirth,
With hearts of love beneath their heels,
And in their bosoms hearts of earth.
O Luxury, as false and grand
As in the mystic tales of old,
When genii answered man's command,
And built of nothing halls of gold!
O Banquet, bright with pallid jets,
And tropic blooms, and vases caught
In palms of naked statuettes,
Ye can not color as ye ought!
For, crouching in the storm without,
I see the figure of a child,
In little ragged roundabout,
Who stares with eyes that never smiled--
And he, in fancy can but taste
The dainties of the kingly fare,
And pick the crumbs that go to waste
Where none have learned to kneel in prayer.
Go, Pride, and throw your goblet down--
The 'merry greeting' best appears
On loving lips that never drown
Its worth but in the wine of tears;
Go, close your coffers like your hearts,
And shut your hearts against the poor,
Go, strut through all your pretty parts
But take the 'Welcome' from your door.
Scheme | XAABX CDCDEFEF DBDGFHFH IJIJKLKL MAMANXNX OPOPQRQR SXSXTGTB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011111110 1110101 11111101 11001011 100 01111101 010111001 11010101 11010101 111101 1101101 11110101 10011111 11011101 11110101 01010011 01011111 11110101 11000101 00010111 11110001 11011101 11010101 11110101 1100110 01010111 01001101 11110111 0011111 11001101 10010111 1110101 01110111 11011101 01010101 0111001 11110111 11000101 11010101 0101010 11111101 01010111 0110101 01011111 11111101 11011101 01010101 11011101 11100111 11110111 01110101 11111101 11010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,778 |
Words | 341 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 53 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 203 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:43 min read
- 81 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A New Year's Plaint" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20786/a-new-year%27s-plaint>.
Discuss this James Whitcomb Riley poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In