Analysis of The River Of Sleep



There are curious isles in the River of Sleep,
Curious isles without number.
We'll visit them all as we leisurely creep
Down the winding stream whose current is deep,
In our beautiful barge of Slumber.

The very first isle in this wonderful stream
Quite close to the shore is lying,
And after a supper of cakes and cream
We come to the Night-Mare-Isle with a scream,
And hurry away from it crying.

And next is the Island-of-Lullaby,
And every one there rejoices.
The winds are only a perfumed sigh,
And the birds that sing in the treetops try
To imitate Mothers' voices.

A little beyond is the Isle-of-Dreams;
Oh, that is the place to be straying.
Everything there is just as it seems;
Dolls are real and sunshine gleams,
And no one calls us from playing.

And then we come to the drollest isle,
And the funniest sounds come pouring
Down from its borderlands once in a while,
And we lean o'er our barge and listen and smile;
For that is the Isle-of-Snoring.

And the very last isle in the River of Sleep
Is the sunshiny Isle-of-Waking.
We see it first with our eyes a-peep,
And we give a yawn-then away we leap,
The barge of Slumber forsaking.


Scheme ABAAB CDCCD EFEEF FDFFD GDGGD ADAAD
Poetic Form
Metre 111001001011 10010110 11011111001 1010111011 0101001110 01011011001 11101110 0100101101 1110111101 010011110 011010110 0100111 011100011 001110011 1101010 0100110111 111011110 10111111 111011 01111110 01111011 001001110 11111001 0111010101001 11101110 001011001011 10101110 1111110101 0110110111 01110010
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,119
Words 210
Sentences 11
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 149
Words per stanza (avg) 35
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:03 min read
68

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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

All Ella Wheeler Wilcox poems | Ella Wheeler Wilcox Books

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