Analysis of The Runaway Boy
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
Wunst I sassed my Pa, an' he
Won't stand that, an' punished me,--
Nen when he was gone that day,
I slipped out an' runned away.
I tooked all my copper-cents,
An' clumbed over our back fence
In the jimpson-weeds 'at growed
Ever'where all down the road.
Nen I got out there, an' nen
I runned some--an' runned again
When I met a man 'at led
A big cow 'at shooked her head.
I went down a long, long lane
Where was little pigs a-play'n';
An' a grea'-big pig went 'Booh!'
An' jumped up, an' skeered me too.
Nen I scampered past, an' they
Was somebody hollered 'Hey!'
An' I ist looked ever'where,
An' they was nobody there.
I _Want_ to, but I'm 'fraid to try
To go back.... An' by-an'-by
Somepin' hurts my throat inside--
An' I want my Ma--an' cried.
Nen a grea'-big girl come through
Where's a gate, an' telled me who
Am I? an' ef I tell where
My home's at she'll show me there.
But I couldn't ist but tell
What's my _name_; an' she says well,
An' she tooked me up an' says
_She_ know where I live, she guess.
Nen she telled me hug wite close
Round her neck!--an' off she goes
Skippin' up the street! An' nen
Purty soon I'm home again.
An' my Ma, when she kissed me,
Kissed the _big girl_ too, an' _she_
Kissed me--ef I p'omise _shore_
I won't run away no more!
Scheme | AABB XXBX CCDD CCEF BBGG XEHH FFGG IIXX XXCC AXGX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (50%) Etheree (28%) |
Metre | 1111111 1111101 1111111 1111101 1111101 11101011 001111 1011101 1111111 1111101 1110111 0111101 1110111 11101011 1011111 1111111 1110111 110101 1111101 11111 11111111 1111111 111101 1111111 1011111 1011111 1111111 1111111 1110111 1111111 1111111 1111111 1111111 1011111 110111 111101 1111111 1011111 111111 1110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,224 |
Words | 251 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 90 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:19 min read
- 46 Views
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"The Runaway Boy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21112/the-runaway-boy>.
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