Analysis of Benedicite
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
God's love and peace be with thee, where
Soe'er this soft autumnal air
Lifts the dark tresses of thy hair.
Whether through city casements comes
Its kiss to thee, in crowded rooms,
Or, out among the woodland blooms,
It freshens o'er thy thoughtful face,
Imparting, in its glad embrace,
Beauty to beauty, grace to grace!
Fair Nature's book together read,
The old wood-paths that knew our tread,
The maple shadows overhead,--
The hills we climbed, the river seen
By gleams along its deep ravine,--
All keep thy memory fresh and green.
Where'er I look, where'er I stray,
Thy thought goes with me on my way,
And hence the prayer I breathe to-day;
O'er lapse of time and change of scene,
The weary waste which lies between
Thyself and me, my heart I lean.
Thou lack'st not Friendship's spell-word, nor
The half-unconscious power to draw
All hearts to thine by Love's sweet law.
With these good gifts of God is cast
Thy lot, and many a charm thou hast
To hold the blessed angels fast.
If, then, a fervent wish for thee
The gracious heavens will heed from me,
What should, dear heart, its burden be?
The sighing of a shaken reed,--
What can I more than meekly plead
The greatness of our common need?
God's love,--unchanging, pure, and true,--
The Paraclete white-shining through
His peace,--the fall of Hermon's dew!
With such a prayer, on this sweet day,
As thou mayst hear and I may say,
I greet thee, dearest, far away!
Scheme | AAA XBB CCC DDD EEE FFF EEE XGG HHH III JJJ KKK FFF |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011111 1110101 10110111 1011011 11110101 1101011 110101101 01001101 10110111 11010101 011111101 0101101 01110101 11011101 111100101 10111011 11111111 01011111 101110111 01011101 1011111 11111111 01101011 11111111 11111111 110100111 1101101 11010111 010101111 11111101 01010101 11111101 010110101 11010101 011101 1101111 11011111 11110111 11110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,384 |
Words | 259 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 39 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 84 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 19 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:21 min read
- 91 Views
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"Benedicite" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22860/benedicite>.
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