Analysis of When June Is Here

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



When June is here--what art have we to sing
The whiteness of the lilies midst the green
Of noon-tranced lawns? Or flash of roses seen
Like redbirds' wings? Or earliest ripening
Prince-Harvest apples, where the cloyed bees cling
Round winey juices oozing down between
The peckings of the robin, while we lean
In under-grasses, lost in marveling.
Or the cool term of morning, and the stir
Of odorous breaths from wood and meadow walks,
The bobwhite's liquid yodel, and the whir
Of sudden flight; and, where the milkmaid talks
Across the bars, on tilted barley-stalks
The dewdrops' glint in webs of gossamer.


Scheme ABBAABBACDCDDC
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111111 0101010101 1111111101 1111100100 1101010111 1101010101 011010111 0101010100 1011110001 1100111011 011010001 110101011 0101110101 011011100
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 600
Words 104
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 482
Words per stanza (avg) 102
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 03, 2023

31 sec read
64

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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