Analysis of Dan Paine
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
Old friend of mine, whose chiming name
Has been the burthen of a rhyme
Within my heart since first I came
To know thee in thy mellow prime;
With warm emotions in my breast
That can but coldly be expressed,
And hopes and wishes wild and vain,
I reach my hand to thee, Dan Paine.
In fancy, as I sit alone
In gloomy fellowship with care,
I hear again thy cheery tone,
And wheel for thee an easy chair;
And from my hand the pencil falls--
My book upon the carpet sprawls,
As eager soul and heart and brain,
Leap up to welcome thee, Dan Paine.
A something gentle in thy mein,
A something tender in thy voice,
Has made my trouble so serene,
I can but weep, from very choice.
And even then my tears, I guess,
Hold more of sweet than bitterness,
And more of gleaming shine than rain,
Because of thy bright smile, Dan Paine.
The wrinkles that the years have spun
And tangled round thy tawny face,
Are kinked with laughter, every one,
And fashioned in a mirthful grace.
And though the twinkle of thine eyes
Is keen as frost when Summer dies,
It can not long as frost remain
While thy warm soul shines out, Dan Paine.
And so I drain a health to thee;--
May merry Joy and jolly Mirth
Like children clamber on thy knee,
And ride thee round the happy earth!
And when, at last, the hand of Fate
Shall lift the latch of Canaan's gate,
And usher me in thy domain,
Smile on me just as now, Dan Paine.
Scheme | ABABCCDD EFEFGGDD HIHIXXDD JKJKLLDD MNMNOODD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1111111 1101101 01111111 11101101 11010011 11110101 01010101 11111111 01011101 0101011 11011101 01111101 01110101 11010101 11010101 11110111 01010011 01010011 11110101 11111101 01011111 11111100 01110111 01111111 01010111 01011101 111101001 0100011 01010111 11111101 11111101 11111111 01110111 11010101 11010111 01110101 01110111 1101111 01010101 11111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,351 |
Words | 271 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 214 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 54 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:21 min read
- 135 Views
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"Dan Paine" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20855/dan-paine>.
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