Analysis of Curly Locks

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



_Curly Locks! Curly Locks! wilt thou be mine?
Thou shalt not wash the dishes, nor yet feed the swine,--
But sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam,
And feast upon strawberries, sugar and cream._

Curly Locks! Curly Locks! wilt thou be mine?
The throb of my heart is in every line,
And the pulse of a passion as airy and glad
In its musical beat as the little Prince had!

Thou shalt not wash the dishes, nor yet feed the swine!--
O I'll dapple thy hands with these kisses of mine
Till the pink of the nail of each finger shall be
As a little pet blush in full blossom for me.

But sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam,
And thou shalt have fabric as fair as a dream,--
The red of my veins, and the white of my love,
And the gold of my joy for the braiding thereof.

And feast upon strawberries, sugar and cream
From a service of silver, with jewels agleam,--
At thy feet will I bide, at thy beck will I rise,
And twinkle my soul in the night of thine eyes!

_Curly Locks! Curly Locks! wilt thou be mine?
Thou shalt not wash the dishes, nor yet feed the swine.--
But sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam,
And feast upon strawberries, sugar and cream._


Scheme AABB aacc Aadd Bbee bbff AABB
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 111011111 111101011101 11101001011 0101101001 1011011111 01111101001 001101011001 011001101011 111101011101 11111111011 101101111011 101011011011 11101001011 01111011101 01111001111 00111110101 0101101001 101011011001 111111111111 01011001111 111011111 111101011101 11101001011 0101101001
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,127
Words 237
Sentences 18
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 145
Words per stanza (avg) 38
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:11 min read
171

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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