Analysis of The Little Town O' Tailholt

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



You kin boast about yer cities, and their stiddy growth and size,
And brag about yer County-seats, and business enterprise,
And railroads, and factories, and all sich foolery--
But the little Town o' Tailholt is big enough fer me!

You kin harp about yer churches, with their steeples in the clouds,
And gas about yer graded streets, and blow about yer crowds;
You kin talk about yer 'theaters,' and all you've got to see--
But the little Town o' Tailholt is show enough fer me!

They hain't no style in our town-- hit's little-like and small--
They hain't no 'churches,' nuther--, jes' the meetin' house is all;
They's no sidewalks, to speak of-- but the highway's allus free,
And the little Town o' Tailholt is wide enough fer me!

Some find it discommodin'-like, I'm willin' to admit,
To hev but one post-office, and a womern keepin' hit,
And the drug-store, and shoe-shop, and grocery, all three--
But the little Town o' Tailholt is handy 'nough fer me!

You kin smile and turn yer nose up, and joke and hev yer fun,
And laugh and holler 'Tail-holts is better holts'n none!
Ef the city suits you better w'y, hit's where you'd ort'o be--
But the little Town o' Tailholt's good enough fer me!


Scheme AABB CCBB DDBB EEBB FFBB
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11101110011101 0101110101010 010100011100 1010111110111 111011101110001 01011101010111 111011100011111 1010111110111 111110101110101 1111101101111 11111110111 0010111110111 1111111101 111111000111 0011011010011 1010111110111 11101111010111 0101011110111 101011101001111111 101011110111
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 1,179
Words 216
Sentences 7
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 45
Words per line (avg) 11
Letters per stanza (avg) 179
Words per stanza (avg) 42
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 03, 2023

1:08 min read
102

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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