Analysis of The Ripest Peach
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
The ripest peach is highest on the tree --
And so her love, beyond the reach of me,
Is dearest in my sight. Sweet breezes, bow
Her heart down to me where I worship now!
She looms aloft where every eye may see
The ripest peach is highest on the tree.
Such fruitage as her love I know, alas!
I may not reach here from the orchard grass.
I drink the sunshine showered past her lips
As roses drain the dewdrop as it drips.
The ripest peach is highest on the tree,
And so mine eyes gaze upward eagerly.
Why -- why do I not turn away in wrath
And pluck some heart here hanging in my path? --
Love's lower boughs bend with them -- but, ah me!
The ripest peach is highest on the tree!
| Scheme | Aabb aAcc ddAa eeaA |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | Quatrain |
| Metre | 011110101 0101010111 1100111101 0111111101 11011100111 011110101 111011101 1111110101 110110101 110101111 011110101 0111110100 1111110101 0111110011 1101111111 011110101 |
| Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
| Characters | 684 |
| Words | 139 |
| Sentences | 11 |
| Stanzas | 4 |
| Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
| Lines Amount | 16 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
| Words per line (avg) | 9 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 129 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 07, 2023
- 42 sec read
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"The Ripest Peach" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21109/the-ripest-peach>.
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