Analysis of The Home-Going
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
We must get home--for we have been away
So long it seems forever and a day!
And O so very homesick we have grown,
The laughter of the world is like a moan
In our tired hearing, and its songs as vain,--
We must get home--we must get home again!
We must get home: It hurts so, staying here,
Where fond hearts must be wept out tear by tear,
And where to wear wet lashes means, at best,
When most our lack, the least our hope of rest
When most our need of joy, the more our pain--
We must get home--we must get home again!
We must get home: All is so quiet there:
The touch of loving hands on brow and hair--
Dim rooms, wherein the sunshine is made mild---
The lost love of the mother and the child
Restored in restful lullabies of rain.--
We must get home--we must get home again!
We must get home, where, as we nod and drowse,
Time humors us and tiptoes through the house,
And loves us best when sleeping baby-wise,
With dreams--not tear-drops--brimming our clenched eyes,--
Pure dreams that know nor taint nor earthly stain--
We must get home--we must get home again!
We must get home; and, unremembering there
All gain of all ambitions otherwhere,
Rest--from the feverish victory, and the crown
Of conquest whose waste glory weighs us down.--
Fame's fairest gifts we toss back with disdain--
We must get home--we must get home again!
Scheme | aabbcD efggcD ffhhcD iiiicD fejjcD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1111111101 1111010001 011101111 0101011101 010101001111 1111111101 1111111101 1111111111 0111110111 111010110111 111011101101 1111111101 1111111101 0111011101 110101111 0111010001 010101011 1111111101 1111111101 11101101 0111110101 11111101011 1111111101 1111111101 1111011 11110101 110100100001 1101110111 1101111101 1111111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,312 |
Words | 253 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 203 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 1:16 min read
- 148 Views
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"The Home-Going" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21063/the-home-going>.
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