Analysis of How It Happened
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
I got to thinkin' of her--both her parents dead and gone--
And all her sisters married off, and none but her and John
A-livin' all alone there in that lonesome sort o' way,
And him a blame old bachelor, confirmder ev'ry day!
I'd knowed 'em all from childern, and their daddy from the time
He settled in the neighborhood, and had n't ary a dime
Er dollar, when he married, far to start housekeepin' on!--
So I got to thinkin' of her--both her parents dead and gone!
I got to thinkin' of her; and a-wundern what she done
That all her sisters kep' a gittin' married, one by one,
And her without no chances--and the best girl of the pack--
An old maid, with her hands, you might say, tied behind her back!
And Mother, too, afore she died, she ust to jes' take on,
When none of 'em was left, you know, but Evaline and John,
And jes' declare to goodness 'at the young men must be bline
To not see what a wife they 'd git if they got Evaline!
I got to thinkin' of her; in my great affliction she
Was sich a comfert to us, and so kind and neighberly,--
She 'd come, and leave her housework, far to be'p out little Jane,
And talk of _her own_ mother 'at she 'd never see again--
Maybe sometimes cry together--though, far the most part she
Would have the child so riconciled and happy-like 'at we
Felt lonesomer 'n ever when she 'd put her bonnet on
And say she 'd railly haf to be a-gittin' back to John!
I got to thinkin' of her, as I say,--and more and more
I'd think of her dependence, and the burdens 'at she bore,--
Her parents both a-bein' dead, and all her sisters gone
And married off, and her a-livin' there alone with John--
You might say jes' a-toilin' and a-slavin' out her life
Far a man 'at hadn't pride enough to git hisse'f a wife--
'Less some one married _Evaline_, and packed her off some day!--
So I got to thinkin' of her--and it happened thataway.
Scheme | ABCCDDBA EEFFBBAA GXXXGGBB HHABIICC |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110101010101 01010101011001 0110110110111 01011100111 1111110110101 110001001111001 010111011111 111110101010101 1111010001111 1101010110111 00011100011101 11110111110101 0101111111111 111111111101 01011101011111 1111011111111 11110100110101 11011101101 111010111111101 011111011110101 10011010110111 110111010111 1111011110101 0111111101111 11110101110101 11100100010111 0101011010101 0101000110111 1111010010101 10111010111101 111101010111 1111101001101 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,836 |
Words | 364 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 43 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 346 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 89 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:51 min read
- 37 Views
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"How It Happened" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20912/how-it-happened>.
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