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The Plaint Human

James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)

Season of snows, and season of flowers,
Seasons of loss and gain!--
Since grief and joy must alike be ours,
Why do we still complain?

Ever our failing, from sun to sun,
O my intolerent brother:--
We want just a little too little of one,
And much too much of the other.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

16 sec read
96

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 269
Words 56
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 4, 4
Full analysis for The Plaint Human »

James Whitcomb Riley

James Whitcomb Riley was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry respectively. more…

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    "The Plaint Human" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/21100/the-plaint-human>.

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