Analysis of Elizabeth
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
_May 1, 1891_.
Elizabeth! Elizabeth!
The first May-morning whispereth
Thy gentle name in every breeze
That lispeth through the young-leaved trees,
New raimented in white and green
Of bloom and leaf to crown thee queen;--
And, as in odorous chorus, all
The orchard-blossoms sweetly call
Even as a singing voice that saith
Elizabeth! Elizabeth!
Elizabeth! Lo, lily-fair,
In deep, cool shadows of thy hair,
Thy face maintaineth its repose.--
Is it, O sister of the rose,
So better, sweeter, blooming thus
Than in this briery world with us?--
Where frost o'ertaketh, and the breath
Of biting winter harrieth
With sleeted rains and blighting snows
All fairest blooms--Elizabeth!
Nay, then!--So reign, Elizabeth,
Crowned, in thy May-day realm of death!
Put forth the scepter of thy love
In every star-tipped blossom of
The grassy dais of thy throne!
Sadder are we, thus left alone,
But gladder they that thrill to see
Thy mother's rapture, greeting thee.
Bereaved are we by life--not death--
Elizabeth! Elizabeth!
Scheme | x AabbccddaA eeffgghafa ahiijjkkhA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11 01000100 011101 110101001 1110111 110101 11011111 010100101 01010101 101010111 01000100 01001101 0111111 111101 11110101 11010101 1011111 111001 110101 111011 11010100 11110100 10111111 1101111 010011101 0101111 10111101 1111111 11010101 01111111 01000100 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 994 |
Words | 171 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 31 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 197 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 85 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Elizabeth" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20872/elizabeth>.
Discuss this James Whitcomb Riley poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In