Analysis of My Symphony
To live content with small means.
To seek elegance rather than luxury,
and refinement rather than fashion.
To be worthy not respectable,
and wealthy not rich.
To study hard, think quietly, talk gently,
act frankly, to listen to stars, birds, babes,
and sages with open heart, to bear all cheerfully,
do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never.
In a word, to let the spiritual,
unbidden and unconscious,
grow up through the common.
This is to be my symphony.
Scheme | ABCDEBFBGDHCB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110111 11100101100 001010110 111010100 01011 11011100110 1101101111 0101101111100 1110010101010 0011101000 1010 111010 11111100 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 487 |
Words | 90 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 13 |
Lines Amount | 13 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 360 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 78 |
About this poem
It's been reported that "My Symphony" may have been actually written by his cousin William Henry Channing, a minister, for a sermon. Their Uncle William Ellery Channing was one of the most influential ministers of his time. His sphere included the first several founding fathers and our first supreme court justice. His sermons and personal integrity inspired, the Transcendentalist movement.
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"My Symphony" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/137614/my-symphony>.
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