Analysis of Harlie
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
Fold the little waxen hands
Lightly. Let your warmest tears
Speak regrets, but never fears,--
Heaven understands!
Let the sad heart, o'er the tomb,
Lift again and burst in bloom
Fragrant with a prayer as sweet
As the lily at your feet.
Bend and kiss the folded eyes--
They are only feigning sleep
While their truant glances peep
Into Paradise.
See, the face, though cold and white,
Holds a hint of some delight
E'en with Death, whose finger-tips
Rest upon the frozen lips.
When, within the years to come,
Vanished echoes live once more--
Pattering footsteps on the floor,
And the sounds of home,--
Let your arms in fancy fold
Little Harlie as of old--
As of old and as he waits
At the City's golden gates.
Scheme | AXXABBCC XDDXEEFF XGGXHHII |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101011 1011101 1011101 1001 10111001 1010101 1010111 1010111 1010101 1110101 1110101 0110 1011101 1011101 11111101 1010101 1010111 1010111 11101 00111 1110101 101111 1110111 1010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 690 |
Words | 131 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 182 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 58 Views
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"Harlie" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20893/harlie>.
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