Analysis of Bedlam Town



Do you want to peep into Bedlam Town?
Then come with me, when the day swings down,
Into the cradle, whose rockers rim,
Some people call the horizon dim.

All the mischief of all the fates
Seems to center in four little pates,
Just one hour before we say,
'It is time for bed now, stop your play.'

O, the racket and noise, and roar
As they prance like a caravan over the floor,
With never a thought of the head that aches,
And never a heed to the 'mercy sakes.'
And 'Pity, save us,' and 'Oh! dear, dear,'
Which all but the culprits plainly hear.

A dog, a parrot, a guinea hen,
Warriors, elephants, Indian men,
A salvation army, a grizzly bear,
Are all at once in the nursery there.

And when the clock in the hall strikes seven
It sounds to us like a voice from heaven;
And each of the elves in a warm nightgown,
March away out of Bedlam Town.


Scheme AABB CCDD EEFFXX GGHH IIAA
Poetic Form
Metre 1111101101 111110111 010101101 110100101 10101101 111001101 11100111 111111111 10100101 11110101001 1100110111 0100110101 010110111 111010101 010100101 1001001001 0010100101 1111001001 0101001110 1111101110 011010011 10111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 827
Words 170
Sentences 9
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 6, 4, 4
Lines Amount 22
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 127
Words per stanza (avg) 33
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

49 sec read
33

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 · 1855 · Janesville

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet. more…

All Ella Wheeler Wilcox poems | Ella Wheeler Wilcox Books

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