Analysis of An Autumnal Extravaganza

James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)



With a sweeter voice than birds
Dare to twitter in their sleep,
Pipe for me a tune of words,
Till my dancing fancies leap
Into freedom vaster far
Than the realms of Reason are!
Sing for me with wilder fire
Than the lover ever sung,
From the time he twanged the lyre
When the world was baby-young.

O my maiden Autumn, you--
You have filled me through and through
With a passion so intense,
All of earthly eloquence
Fails, and falls, and swoons away
In your presence. Like as one
Who essays to look the sun
Fairly in the face, I say,
Though my eyes you dazzle blind
Greater dazzled is my mind.
So, my Autumn, let me kneel
At your feet and worship you!
Be my sweetheart; let me feel
Your caress; and tell me too
Why your smiles bewilder me--
Glancing into laughter, then
Trancing into calm again,
Till your meaning drowning lies
In the dim depths of your eyes.
Let me see the things you see
Down the depths of mystery!
Blow aside the hazy veil
From the daylight of your face
With the fragrance-ladened gale
Of your spicy breath and chase
Every dimple to its place.
Lift your gipsy finger-tips
To the roses of your lips,
And fling down to me a bud--
But an unblown kiss--but one--
It shall blossom in my blood,
Even after life is done--
When I dare to touch the brow
Your rare hair is veiling now--
When the rich, red-golden strands
Of the treasure in my hands
Shall be all of worldly worth
Heaven lifted from the earth,
Like a banner to have set
On its highest minaret.


Scheme ABABCCXDXD EEXXFGGFHHIEIEJKKLLJJMNMNNOOPGPGQQRRSSTT
Poetic Form Etheree  (28%)
Metre 1010111 1110011 1110111 1110101 011011 1011101 11111010 1010101 1011101 1011101 1110101 1111101 1010101 1110100 1010101 0110111 1011101 1000111 1111101 1010111 1110111 1110101 111111 1010111 1110101 1001101 101101 1110101 0011111 1110111 1011100 1010101 101111 101011 1110101 10010111 111101 1010111 0111101 111111 1110011 1010111 1111101 1111101 1011101 1010011 1111101 1010101 1010111 111001
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,425
Words 280
Sentences 10
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 10, 40
Lines Amount 50
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 572
Words per stanza (avg) 139
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

1:24 min read
118

James Whitcomb Riley

James Whitcomb Riley was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry respectively. more…

All James Whitcomb Riley poems | James Whitcomb Riley Books

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