Analysis of Confession
Ringgold Wilmer Lardner 1885 (Niles, Michigan) – 1933 (East Hampton, New York)
A sleuth like Pinkerton or Burns
Is told that there has been a crime.
He runs down clues and leads, and learns
Who did the deed, in course of time.
It's just the other way with me:
The first thing I am sure of is
The criminal's identity,
And then I learn what crime was his.
When Son comes up with hanging head
And smiles a certain kind of smile,
When he's affectionate instead
Of playful; when he stalls awhile
And starts to speak and stops again,
Or, squirming like a mouse that's caught,
Asserts, "I am a GOOD boy," then
I look to see what harm's been wrought.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGXGX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110011 11111101 11110101 11010111 11010111 01111111 01000100 01111111 11111101 01010111 11010001 11011101 01110101 11010111 01110111 11111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 551 |
Words | 111 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 217 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 55 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 4 Views
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"Confession" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56469/confession>.
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