Analysis of Jamie's Puzzle



There was grief within our household
Because of a vacant chair.
Our mother, so loved and precious,
No longer was sitting there.

Our hearts grew heavy with sorrow,
Our eyes with tears were blind,
And little Jamie was wondering,
Why we were left behind.

We had told our little darling,
Of the land of love and light,
Of the saints all crowned with glory,
And enrobed in spotless white.

We said that our precious mother,
Had gone to that land so fair,
To dwell with beautiful angels,
And to be forever there.

But the child was sorely puzzled,
Why dear grandmamma should go
To dwell in a stranger city,
When her children loved her so.

But again the mystic angel
Came with swift and silent tread,
And our sister, Jamie's mother,
Was enrolled among the dead.

To us the mystery deepened,
To Jamie it seemed more clear;
Grandma, he said, must be lonesome,
And mamma has gone to her.

But the question lies unanswered
In our little Jamie's mind,
Why she should go to our mother,
And leave her children behind;

To dwell in that lovely city,
From all that was dear to part,
From children who loved to nestle
So closely around her heart.

Dear child, like you, we are puzzled,
With problems that still remain;
But think in the great hereafter
Their meaning will all be plain.


Scheme XAXA BCDC DEFE GAXA HBFB IJGJ XXXG XCGC FKIK HLGL
Poetic Form Quatrain  (90%)
Etheree  (33%)
Metre 11101101 0110101 101011010 1101101 101110110 1011101 010101100 110101 111101010 1011101 10111110 010101 111101010 1111111 11110010 0110101 10111010 11111 11001010 1010101 10101010 1110101 010101010 1010101 11010010 1101111 10111110 0101110 1010110 01010101 111111010 0101001 11011010 1111111 11011110 1100101 11111110 1101101 11001010 1101111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,269
Words 231
Sentences 11
Stanzas 10
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 40
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 99
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:09 min read
67

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper born to free parents in Baltimore Maryland was an African American abolitionist and poet more…

All Frances Ellen Watkins Harper poems | Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Books

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