Analysis of To Jessica, Gone Back To The City

Ellis Parker Butler 1869 (Muscatine) – 1937 (Williamsville)



Sence fair Jessica hez left us
Seems ez ef she hed bereft us,
When she went, o’ half o’ livin’;
Fer we never knowed she’d driven
Into us so much content,
Till fair Jessica hed went.
(Knowed a feller once thet cried
When his yaller dog hed died.)

We hain’t near ez bright an’ chirky,
An’ the sun shines blue an’ murky,
Kind o’ sadly an’ dishearted,
Like ets sperret bed departed;
Just ez ef ets joy bed ceased
Sence fair Jessica ’s gone East.
(Not but what ets always sober
Sort o’ weather in October.)

Then the posies, too, seems human,
An’ hez all quit o’ their bloomin’;
An’ the trees they show a pallor
An’ hey turned a heart-sick yaller,
Sayin’, 'No use livin’ on
Ef fair Jessica hez gone.'
(Folks thet knows sez this ez all
Very common in the fall.)

Truth ez, I’m a-feelin’ sadly;
Things ez goin’ kind o’ badly
Round my heart an’ other vitals
(Brings on poetry recitals
O’ my woes ‘most ev’ry day)
Sence fair Jessica’s away.
(Kind o’ think thet I will haf ter
Smoke a leetle less hereafter.)

But, with fun aside, you know,
We’re blamed sorry she must go;
An’ we hope she’ll think, maybe,
‘Z well o’ us ez we o’ she.


Scheme AABBCCDD EECXFFGG BBGGBBHH IIAXJJGG BEII
Poetic Form
Metre 11100111 11111011 1111111 11101110 0111110 1110011 1010111 111111 1111111 10111110 111011 1111010 1111111 11100111 1111110 11100010 1011110 1111111 1011101 1110111 11111 1110011 1111111 1010001 1110110 1111110 1111101 11100010 111111 11101 11111111 1011010 1110111 0110111 1111110 11111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,163
Words 221
Sentences 10
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 4
Lines Amount 36
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 165
Words per stanza (avg) 43
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:06 min read
40

Ellis Parker Butler

Ellis Parker Butler was an American author. more…

All Ellis Parker Butler poems | Ellis Parker Butler Books

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