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

William Cowper

William Macquarie Cowper was an Australian Anglican archdeacon and Dean of Sydney. more…

All William Cowper poems | William Cowper Books

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