Analysis of The Old Hay-Mow
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
The Old Hay-mow's the place to play
Fer boys, when it's a rainy day!
I good-'eal ruther be up there
Than down in town, er anywhere!
When I play in our stable-loft,
The good old hay's so dry an' soft,
An' feels so fine, an' smells so sweet,
I 'most ferget to go an' eat.
An' one time wunst I _did_ ferget
To go 'tel dinner was all et,--
An' they had short-cake--an'--Bud he
Hogged up the piece Ma saved fer me!
Nen I won't let him play no more
In our hay-mow where I keep store
An' got hen-eggs to sell,--an' shoo
The cackle-un old hen out, too!
An' nen, when Aunty she was here
A-visitun from Rensselaer,
An' bringed my little cousin,--_he_
Can come up there an' play with me.
But, after while--when Bud he bets
'At I can't turn no summersetts,--
I let him come up, ef he can
Ac' ha'f-way like a gentleman!
Scheme | AABB CXDD CXEE FFGG XXEE HHXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (50%) |
Metre | 01110111 11110101 11110111 1101010 111010101 01111111 11111111 1111111 1111111 11110111 11111111 11011111 11111111 010111111 11111111 01011111 1111111 01101 11110101 11111111 11011111 111111 11111111 1111110100 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 791 |
Words | 163 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 97 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 08, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 53 Views
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