Analysis of A Riddle
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
I am just two and two, I am warm, I am cold,
And the parent of numbers that cannot be told.
I am lawful, unlawful -- a duty, a fault,
I am often sold dear, good for nothing when bought;
An extraordinary boon, and a matter of course,
And yielded with pleasure when taken by force.
Scheme | AABCDD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111101111111 001011011011 111001001001 111011111011 101001001011 01011011011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 282 |
Words | 58 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 6 |
Lines Amount | 6 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 210 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 56 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 17 sec read
- 85 Views
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"A Riddle" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39791/a-riddle>.
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