Analysis of Tom Johnson's Quit
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
A passel o' the boys last night--
An' me amongst 'em--kindo got
To talkin' Temper'nce left an' right,
An' workin' up 'blue-ribbon,' _hot_;
An' while we was a-countin' jes'
How many bed gone into hit
An' signed the pledge, some feller says,--
'Tom Johnson's quit!'
We laughed, of course--'cause Tom, you know,
_He's_ spiled more whisky, boy an' man,
And seed more trouble, high an' low,
Than any chap but Tom could stand:
And so, says I '_He's_ too nigh dead.
Far Temper'nce to benefit!'
The feller sighed agin, and said--
'Tom Johnson's quit!'
We all _liked_ Tom, an' that was why
We sorto simmered down agin,
And ast the feller ser'ously
Ef he wa'n't tryin' to draw us in:
He shuck his head--tuck off his hat--
Helt up his hand an' opened hit,
An' says, says he, 'I'll _swear_ to that--
Tom Johnson's quit!'
Well, we was stumpt, an' tickled too,--
Because we knowed ef Tom _had_ signed
Ther wa'n't no man 'at wore the 'blue'
'At was more honester inclined:
An' then and there we kindo riz,--
The hull dern gang of us 'at bit--
An' th'owed our hats and let 'er whizz,--
'_Tom Johnson's quit!_'
I've heerd 'em holler when the balls
Was buzzin' 'round us wus 'n bees,
An' when the ole flag on the walls
Was flappin' o'er the enemy's,
I've heerd a-many a wild 'hooray'
'At made my heart git up an' git--
But Lord!--to hear 'em shout that way!--
'_Tom Johnson's quit!_'
But when we saw the chap 'at fetched
The news wa'n't jinin' in the cheer,
But stood there solemn-like, an' reched
An' kindo wiped away a tear,
We someway sorto' stilled agin,
And listened--I kin hear him yit,
His voice a-wobblin' with his chin,--
'Tom Johnson's quit--
'I hain't a-givin' you no game--
I wisht I was!... An hour ago,
This operator--what's his name--
The one 'at works at night, you know?--
Went out to flag that Ten Express,
And sees a man in front of hit
Th'ow up his hands an' stagger--yes,--
_Tom Johnson's quit_.'
Scheme | axaabcbC dxdxeceC xfghiciC xjgjbcbA bbbbkakA xxaxfahC ldldbcbA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010111 1101111 1101111 1111101 1111011 11011011 11011101 1101 11110111 11110111 01110111 11011111 01111111 111100 01010101 1101 11111111 1110101 010101 1111111110 11111111 11111101 11111111 1101 11111101 01111111 1111111101 111101 1101111 01111111 11111010101 1101 11110101 1111111 11011101 11100100 110100101 11111111 11111111 1101 11110111 011111001 11110111 1110101 111101 01011111 1101111 1101 11101111 111111001 1100111 01111111 11111101 01010111 1111111101 1101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,852 |
Words | 364 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 194 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 08, 2023
- 1:55 min read
- 101 Views
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"Tom Johnson's Quit" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21158/tom-johnson%27s-quit>.
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