Analysis of To Kate. (In Lieu Of A Valentine)
Ellis Parker Butler 1869 (Muscatine) – 1937 (Williamsville)
Sweet Love and I had oft communed;
We were, indeed, great friends,
And oft I sought his office, near
Where Courtship Alley ends.
I used to sit with him, and smoke,
And talk of your blue eyes,
And argue how I best might act
To make your heart my prize.
He always seemed to have much time
To hear me tell my joy,
So that I came to deem him but
An idle, lazy boy.
But on St. Valentine his day,
I found him hard at work,
As if he had a mighty task
And did not dare to shirk;
And o’er his head there hung a card
That made me haste away;
It bore these words—
Please make it short.
This is my busy day!
And so, Sweet maiden; if I send
No valentine, you see
The reason here; Love could not waste
His precious time on me!
Scheme | ABXB XCAC XDAD AEXE AXXAA AFAF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1101111 100111 01111101 11101 11111101 011111 01011111 111111 1111111 111111 11111111 110101 1111011 111111 11110101 011111 01111101 111101 1111 1111 111101 01110111 11011 01011111 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 700 |
Words | 151 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 4 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 90 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 61 Views
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