Analysis of A Baby In The House
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
I knew that a baby was hid in that house,
Though I saw no cradle and heard no cry;
But the husband was tip-toeing 'round like a mouse,
And the good wife was humming a soft lullaby;
And there was a look on the face of the mother,
That I knew could mean only one thing, and no other.
The mother, I said to myself, for I knew
That the woman before me was certainly that;
And there lay in a corner a tiny cloth shoe,
And I saw on a stand such a wee little hat;
And the beard of the husband said, plain as could be,
'Two fat chubby hands have been tugging at me.'
And he took from his pocket a gay picture-book,
And a dog that could bark, if you pulled on a string;
And the wife laid them up with such a pleased look;
And I said to myself, 'There is no other thing
But a babe that could bring about all this, and so
That one thing is in hiding somewhere, I know.'
I stayed but a moment, and saw nothing more,
And heard not a sound, yet I know I was right;
What else could the shoe mean that lay on the floor,
The book and the toy, and the faces so bright;
And what made the husband as still as a mouse?
I am sure, very sure, there's a babe in that house.
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEFF GHGHII JKJKAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101011011 1111100111 101011101101 00111100110 011011011010 1111110110110 0101111111 101001111001 011001001011 011101101101 001101011111 11101111011 011111001101 001111111101 00111111011 01111111101 101111011101 1111010111 11101001101 01101111111 11101111101 01001001011 01101011101 111101101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,159 |
Words | 245 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 217 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 60 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 287 Views
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