Analysis of Time
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
1
The ticking-- ticking-- ticking of the clock--!
That vexed me so last night--! 'For though Time keeps
Such drowsy watch,' I moaned, 'he never sleeps,
But only nods above the world to mock
Its restless occupant, then rudely rock
It as the cradle of a babe that weeps!'
I seemed to see the seconds piled in heaps
Like sand about me; and at every shock
O' the bell, the piled sands were swirled away
As by a desert-storm that swept the earth
Stark as a granary floor, whereon the gray
And mist-bedrizzled moon amidst the dearth
Came crawling, like a sickly child, to lay
Its pale face next mine own and weep for day.
2
Wait for the morning! Ah! We wait indeed
For daylight, we who toss about through stress
Of vacant-armed desires and emptiness
Of all the warm, warm touches that we need,
And the warm kisses upon which we feed
Our famished lips in fancy! May God bless
The starved lips of us with but one caress
Warm as the yearning blood our poor hearts bleed...!
A wild prayer--! Bite thy pillow, praying so--
Toss this side, and whirl that, and moan for dawn;
Let the clock's seconds dribble out their woe,
And Time be drained of sorrow! Long ago
We heard the crowing cock, with answer drawn
As hoarsely sad at throat as sobs... Pray on!
Scheme | ABCCBBCCBDEDEDD AFGXFFGGFHIHHIX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1 0101010101 1111111111 1101111101 1101010111 1101001101 1101010111 1111010101 11011011001 1010110101 1101011101 11011101 01110101 1101010111 1111110111 1 1101011101 111110111 11010100100 1101110111 0011001111 10101010111 0111111101 11010110111 0111110101 1110110111 1011010111 0111110101 1101011101 111111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,219 |
Words | 235 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 15, 15 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 477 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 116 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 138 Views
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"Time" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21145/time>.
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