Analysis of Jim
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
He was jes a plain ever'-day, all-round kind of a jour.,
Consumpted-Iookin'-- but la!
The jokeiest, wittiest, story-tellin', song-singin', laughin'est, jolliest
Feller you ever saw!
Worked at jes coarse work, but you kin bet he was fine enough in his talk,
And his feelin's too!
Lordy! Ef he was on'y back on his bench ag'in to-day, a- carryin' on
Like he ust to do!
Any shopmate'll tell you there never was, on top o' dirt,
A better feller'n Jim!
You want a favor, and couldn't git it anywheres else--
You could git it o' him!
Most free-heartedest man thataway in the world, I guess!
Give up ever' nickel he's worth--
And ef you'd a-wanted it, and named it to him, and it was his,
He'd a-give you the earth!
Allus a reachin' out, Jim was, and a-he'ppin' some
Pore feller onto his feet--
He'd a-never a-keered how hungry he was hisse'f,
So's the feller got somepin' to eat!
Didn't make no differ'nce at all to him how he was dressed,
He ust to say to me--,
'You togg out a tramp purty comfortable in winter-time, a huntin' a job,
And he'll git along!' says he.
Jim didn't have, ner never could git ahead, so overly much
O' this world's goods at a time--.
'Fore now I've saw him, more'n onc't, lend a dollar, and haf to, more'n
likely,
Turn round and borry a dime!
Mebby laugh and joke about it hisse'f fer awhile-- then jerk his coat,
And kindo' square his chin,
Tie on his apern, and squat hisse'f on his old shoe-bench,
And go to peggin' ag'in!
Patientest feller too, I reckon, 'at ever jes natchurly
Coughed hisse'f to death!
Long enough after his voice was lost he'd laugh in a whisper and say
He could git ever'thing but his breath--
'You fellers,' he'd sorto' twinkle his eyes and say,
'Is a-pilin' onto me
A mighty big debt fer that-air little weak-chested ghost o' mine to pack
Through all Eternity!'
Now there was a man 'at jes 'peared-like, to me,
'At ortn't a-never a-died!
'But death hain't a-showin' no favors,' the old boss said--
'On'y to Jim!' and cried:
And Wigger, who puts up the best sewed-work in the shop--
Er the whole blame neighborhood--,
He says, 'When God made Jim, I bet you He didn't do anything else that day
But jes set around and feel good!'
Scheme | XAXXXBXB XCXCXDXD XEXEXFXF XGXFGXHXH AIJIJFXF FKXKXLJL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110111111101 1111 011101111100 101101 11111111111101011 0111 11111111111011011 11111 1011111011111 0101011 110100101111 111111 1111100111 11101011 0110101011110111 101101 1011110011 1101011 101001110111 10101111 1011111111111 111111 111011100001010101 0110111 1101110110111001 1111101 11111111101001111 10 110101 110101111011111 01111 111101111111 011110 110111011011 1111 10110111111001001 111101111 11011101101 101101 010111111011011111 110100 11101111111 1101001 1111011100111 111101 0101110111001 001110 111111111110110111 11101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,133 |
Words | 407 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 9, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 49 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 265 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 67 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 31, 2023
- 2:11 min read
- 138 Views
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"Jim" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20931/jim>.
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