Analysis of From The Short Story Shadow-Children
Louisa May Alcott 1832 – 1888
Little shadows, little shadows
Dancing on the chamber wall,
While I sit beside the hearthstone
Where the red flames rise and fall.
Caps and nightgowns, caps and nightgowns,
My three antic shadows wear;
And no sound they make in playing,
For the six small feet are bare.
Dancing gayly, dancing gayly,
To and fro all together,
Like a family of daisies
Blown about in windy weather;
Nimble fairies, nimble fairies,
Playing pranks in the warm glow,
While I sing the nursery ditties
Childish phantoms love and know.
Now what happens, now what happens?
One small shadow's tumbled down:
I can see it on the carpet
Softly rubbing its hurt crown.
No one whimpers, no one whimpers;
A brave-hearted sprite is this:
See! the others offer comfort
In a silent, shadowy kiss.
Hush! they're creeping; hush! they're creeping,
Up about my rocking-chair:
I can feel their loving fingers
Clasp my neck and touch my hair.
Little shadows, little shadows,
Take me captive, hold me tight,
As they climb and cling and whisper,
"Mother dear, good night! good night!"
Scheme | Abcbaded bfgfgxgc xcxcahxh edxdAifi |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101101 1010101 1110101 1011101 101101 111011 01111010 1011111 101101 1011010 10100110 10101010 10101010 1010011 111010010 1010101 11101110 111101 11111010 1010111 111111 0110111 10101010 00101001 11101110 1011101 11111010 1110111 101101 1110111 11101010 1011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,048 |
Words | 180 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 204 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 54 sec read
- 60 Views
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"From The Short Story Shadow-Children" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26048/from-the-short-story-shadow-children>.
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