Analysis of On Our Toes
Lawrence S. Pertillar 1947 (Connecticut)
On our toes.
Seen peeking.
Over built fences,
Snooping and seeking.
Perceiving no one sees our noses showing.
Minding not our business hoping...
The neighbors next door,
Will not suspect...
Every move they make is secretly kept.
From dawn until midnight what they do,
Doing what they choose...
Without it approved.
Yet on our toes not resting.
Looking for something upsetting.
And ready to defend what offends,
A peace we can't get to expect deserved.
Done to flaunt around,
As if ours to have first.
But the neighbors next door,
Doing their best to live peacefully.
Have the nerve,
To keep our noses in their business...
Kept successfully ignored!
'It's pouring rain and you're soaking wet.
At least you could have used an umbrella!'
'Maybe that's what you would do.
But I am not that nosey.
Wanting to be seen snooping!
And besides...
Everytime you've been caught,
Telling them you've been told to tell them
You are a planet watcher.
Awaiting for Uranus to appear,
In broad daylight is ridiculous!
At least my nose is not up their butts.'
'Well...
Those times we keep to ourselves,
Is no one else's business.'
'Meaning what?
Those times I saw Uranus,
I don't remember when that was!'
'Ha...ha...ha.
Sssshhhh.
That same car we saw last week.
Is turning into their driveway!'
'Go inside and turn the lights off.
Hurry.
And bring to me the binoculars.'
Scheme | ABXBBBCXXDXX BBXXXXCEXFX XX DABXXXXXFX XXF XFX XAXX XEX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101 110 10110 10010 010111101010 101101010 01011 1101 10011111001 11011111 10111 01101 11101110 10110010 010101101 0111110101 11101 1110111 101011 101111100 101 1110100110 1010001 110101101 1111111010 1011111 111111 1011110 001 10111 101111111 1101010 0101100101 01110100 111111111 1 11111001 1111010 101 1111100 11010111 1 1 1111111 1100111 10101011 10 011100100 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,358 |
Words | 288 |
Sentences | 39 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 11, 2, 10, 3, 3, 4, 3 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 129 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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"On Our Toes" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/181945/on-our-toes>.
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