Analysis of Upon The Flint In The Water
John Bunyan 1628 (Elstow, Bedfordshire) – 1688 (London)
This flint, time out of mind, has there abode,
Where crystal streams make their continual road.
Yet it abides a flint as much as 'twere
Before it touched the water, or came there
Its hard obdurateness is not abated,
'Tis not at all by water penetrated.
Though water hath a soft'ning virtue in't,
This stone it can't dissolve, for 'tis a flint.
Yea, though it in the water doth remain,
It doth its fiery nature still retain.
If you oppose it with its opposite,
At you, yea, in your face, its fire 'twill spit.
This flint an emblem is of those that lie,
Like stones, under the Word, until they die.
Its crystal streams have not their nature changed,
They are not, from their lusts, by grace estranged.
Scheme | AABBXXXXCCXX DDEE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111101 11011101001 1101011111 0111010111 11111010 1111110100 11010111001 1111011101 1110010101 11110010101 1101111100 11101111011 1111011111 1110010111 1101111101 1111111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 703 |
Words | 131 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 270 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 64 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 40 Views
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"Upon The Flint In The Water" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22170/upon-the-flint-in-the-water>.
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