Analysis of Negligent Mary

Ann Taylor 1782 (Islington) – 1866



AH, Mary! what, do you for dolly not care?
And why is she left on the floor?
Forsaken, and cover'd with dust, I declare;
With you I must trust her no more.

I thought you were pleased, as you took her so gladly,
When on your birthday she was sent;
Did I ever suppose you would use her so sadly?
Was that, do you think, what I meant?

With her bonnet of straw you once were delighted,
And trimm'd it so pretty with pink;
But now it is crumpled, and dolly is slighted:
Her nurse quite forgets her, I think.

Suppose now–for Mary is dolly to me,
Whom I love to see tidy and fair–
Suppose I should leave you, as dolly I see,
In tatters, and comfortless there.

But dolly feels nothing, as you do, my dear,
Nor cares for her negligent nurse:
If I were as careless as you are, I fear,
Your lot, and my fault, would be worse.

And therefore it is, in my Mary, I strive
To check every fault that I see:
Mary's doll is but waxen–mamma's is alive,
And of far more importance than she.


Scheme ABAB CDCD XEXE CACA FGFG HCHC
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11011111011 01111101 01001011101 11111011 111011110110 1111111 1110011110110 11111111 101011110010 01111011 111110010110 01101011 01111011011 111111001 01111111011 010011 11011011111 11101001 11011011111 11011111 0111011011 111001111 1011111101 011101011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 978
Words 194
Sentences 11
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 122
Words per stanza (avg) 32
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

59 sec read
69

Ann Taylor

Ann Taylor is the former wife of Clifton Davis. more…

All Ann Taylor poems | Ann Taylor Books

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