Analysis of The Pin

Ann Taylor 1782 (Islington) – 1866



"Dear me! what signifies a pin!
I'll leave it on the floor;
My pincushion has others in,
Mamma has plenty more:
A miser will I never be,"
Said little heedless Emily.

So tripping on to giddy play,
She left the pin behind,
For Betty's broom to whisk away,
Or some one else to find;
She never gave a thought, indeed,
To what she might to-morrow need.

Next day a party was to ride,
To see an air-balloon!
And all the company beside
Were dress'd and ready soon:
But she, poor girl, she could not stir,
For just a pin to finish her.

'Twas vainly now, with eye and hand,
She did to search begin;
There was not one­not one, the band
Of her pelisse to pin!
She cut her pincushion in two,
But not a pin had slidden through!

At last, as hunting on the floor,
Over a crack she lay,
The carriage rattled to the door,
Then rattled fast away.
Poor Emily! she was not in,
For want of just­a single pin!

There's hardly anything so small,
So trifling or so mean,
That we may never want at all,
For service unforseen:
And those who venture wilful waste,
May woeful want expect to taste.


Scheme ABABCC DEDEFF GHGHII JAJAKK BDBDAA LXLAMM
Poetic Form
Metre 1111001 111101 111100 101101 01011101 1101100 11011101 110101 11011101 111111 11010101 11111101 11010111 111101 01010001 010101 11111111 11011100 11011101 111101 11111101 10111 110101 1101111 11110101 100111 01010101 110101 11001110 11110101 1101011 110111 11110111 1101 0111011 11010111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,067
Words 208
Sentences 13
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 36
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 135
Words per stanza (avg) 34
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 16, 2023

1:03 min read
67

Ann Taylor

Ann Taylor is the former wife of Clifton Davis. more…

All Ann Taylor poems | Ann Taylor Books

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