Analysis of The Lugubrious Whing-Whang

James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)



The rhyme o' The Raggedy Man's 'at's best
Is Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs,--
'Cause that-un's the strangest of all o' the rest,
An' the worst to learn, an' the last one guessed,
An' the funniest one, an' the foolishest.--
Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs!

I don't know what in the world it means--
Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs!--
An' nen when I _tell_ him I don't, he leans
Like he was a-grindin' on some machines
An' says: Ef I _don't_, w'y, I don't know _beans!_
Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs!--

Out on the margin of Moonshine Land,
Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs!
Out where the Whing-Whang loves to stand,
Writing his name with his tail in the sand,
And swiping it out with his oogerish hand;
Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs!

Is it the gibber of Gungs or Keeks?
Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs!
Or what _is_ the sound that the Whing-Whang seeks?--
Crouching low by the winding creeks
And holding his breath for weeks and weeks!
Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs!

Aroint him the wraithest of wraithly things!
Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs!
'Tis a fair Whing-Whangess, with phosphor rings
And bridal-jewels of fangs and stings;
And she sits and as sadly and softly sings
As the mildewed whir of her own dead wings,--
Tickle me, Dear,
Tickle me here,
Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs!


Scheme abaaaB cBccbB dBdddB bBeeeB fBffffxxB
Poetic Form
Metre 0110100111 1101101101 11101011101 1011110111 101001101 101101101 111100111 101101101 1111111111 111011101 1111110011111 101101101 11010111 101101101 11011111 1011111001 010111111 101101101 11011111 101101101 1110110111 10110101 010111101 101101101 1101111 101101101 10111111 010101101 01101100101 101110111 1011 1011 101101101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,347
Words 256
Sentences 16
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 9
Lines Amount 33
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 206
Words per stanza (avg) 49
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

1:19 min read
143

James Whitcomb Riley

James Whitcomb Riley was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry respectively. more…

All James Whitcomb Riley poems | James Whitcomb Riley Books

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