Analysis of Old Aunt Mary's
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
Wasn't it pleasant, O brother mine,
In those old days of the lost sunshine
Of youth-- when the Saturday's chores were through,
And the 'Sunday's wood' in the kitchen too,
And we went visiting, 'me and you,'
Out to Old Aunt Mary's?
It all comes back so clear to-day!
Though I am as bald as you are gray--
Out by the barn-lot, and down the lane,
We patter along in the dust again,
As light as the tips of the drops of the rain,
Out to Old Aunt Mary's!
We cross the pasture, and through the wood
Where the old gray snag of the poplar stood,
Where the hammering 'red-heads' hopped awry,
And the buzzard 'raised' in the 'clearing' sky
And lolled and circled, as we went by
Out to Old Aunt Mary's.
And then in the dust of the road again;
And the teams we met, and the countrymen;
And the long highway, with sunshine spread
As thick as butter on country bread,
Our cares behind, and our hearts ahead
Out to Old Aunt Mary's.
Why, I see her now in the open door,
Where the little gourds grew up the sides and o'er
The clapboard roof--! And her face-- ah, me!
Wasn't it good for a boy to see--
And wasn't it good for a boy to be
Out to Old Aunt Mary's?
The jelly-- the Jam and the marmalade,
And the cherry and quince 'preserves'' she made!
And the sweet-sour pickles of peach and pear,
With cinnamon in 'em, and all things rare--!
And the more we ate was the more to spare,
Out to Old Aunt Mary's!
And the old spring-house in the cool green gloom
Of the willow-trees--, and the cooler room
Where the swinging-shelves and the crocks were kept--
Where the cream in a golden languor slept
While the waters gurgled and laughed and wept--
Out to Old Aunt Mary's.
And O my brother, so far away,
This is to tell you she waits to-day
To welcome us--: Aunt Mary fell
Asleep this morning, whispering-- 'Tell
The boys to come!' And all is well
Out to Old Aunt Mary's.
Scheme | aabbbC ddefeC gghhhC fxiiiC xxjjjC kklllC mmnnnC ddoooC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101101101 01111011 1110100101 001100101 011100101 111110 11111111 111111111 110110101 1100100101 11101101101 111110 110100101 1011110101 1010011101 0010100101 010101111 111110 0100110101 0011100100 0011111 111101101 10101010101 111110 1110100101 101011101010 01100111 101110111 0101110111 111110 010010010 001001111 00110101101 1100010111 0011110111 111110 0011100111 101100101 1010100101 101001011 101010101 111110 011101101 111111111 11011101 011101001 01110111 111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,808 |
Words | 359 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 173 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 13, 2023
- 1:51 min read
- 247 Views
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"Old Aunt Mary's" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20986/old-aunt-mary%27s>.
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