Analysis of Ash Wednesday
John Keble 1792 (Fairford) – 1866 (Bournemouth)
"Yes--deep within and deeper yet
The rankling shaft of conscience hide,
Quick let the swelling eye forget
The tears that in the heart abide.
Calm be the voice, the aspect bold,
No shuddering pass o'er lip or brow,
For why should Innocence be told
The pangs that guilty spirits bow?
"The loving eye that watches thine
Close as the air that wraps thee round -
Why in thy sorrow should it pine,
Since never of thy sin it found?
And wherefore should the heathen see
What chains of darkness thee enslave,
And mocking say, 'Lo, this is he
Who owned a God that could not save'?"
Thus oft the mourner's wayward heart
Tempts him to hide his grief and die,
Too feeble for Confession's smart,
Too proud to bear a pitying eye;
How sweet, in that dark hour, to fall
On bosoms waiting to receive
Our sighs, and gently whisper all!
They love us--will not God forgive?
Else let us keep our fast within,
Till Heaven and we are quite alone,
Then let the grief, the shame, the sin,
Before the mercy-seat be thrown.
Between the porch and altar weep,
Unworthy of the holiest place,
Yet hoping near the shrine to keep
One lowly cell in sight of grace.
Nor fear lest sympathy should fail -
Hast thou not seen, in night hours drear,
When racking thoughts the heart assail,
The glimmering stars by turns appear,
And from the eternal house above
With silent news of mercy steal?
So Angels pause on tasks of love,
To look where sorrowing sinners kneel.
Or if no Angel pass that way,
He who in secret sees, perchance
May bid His own heart-warming ray
Toward thee stream with kindlier glance,
As when upon His drooping head
His Father's light was poured from Heaven,
What time, unsheltered and unfed,
Far in the wild His steps were driven.
High thoughts were with Him in that hour,
Untold, unspeakable on earth -
And who can stay the soaring power
Of spirits weaned from worldly mirth,
While far beyond the sound of praise
With upward eye they float serene,
And learn to bear their Saviour's blaze
When Judgment shall undraw the screen?
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH IJIJKXKX LMLMNONO PDPXQRQR STSTXUAU VWVWXYXY |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 01011101 11010101 01100101 1101011 1100110111 11110011 01110101 01011101 11011111 10110111 11011111 0110101 11110101 01011111 11011111 1101101 11111101 110111 111101001 110111011 1110101 101010101 11111101 111110101 110011101 11010101 01010111 01010101 010101001 11010111 11010111 11110011 111101101 11010101 010011101 010010101 11011101 11011111 1111101 11110111 11010101 11111101 0111111 11011101 110111110 11101 100111010 110110110 01010011 011101010 11011101 11010111 11011101 0111111 1101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,016 |
Words | 367 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 225 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 52 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 06, 2023
- 1:51 min read
- 200 Views
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"Ash Wednesday" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23551/ash-wednesday>.
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