Analysis of Show me the Way
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Show me the way that leads to the true life.
I do not care what tempests may assail me,
I shall be given courage for the strife;
I know my strength will not desert or fail me;
I know that I shall conquer in the fray:
Show me the way.
Show me the way up to a higher plane,
Where body shall be servant to the soul.
I do not care what tides of woe or pain
Across my life their angry waves may roll,
If I but reach the end I seek, some day:
Show me the way.
Show me the way, and let me bravely climb
Above vain grievings for unworthy treasures;
Above all sorrow that finds balm in time;
Above small triumphs or belittling pleasures;
Up to those heights where these things seem child's-play:
Show me the way.
Show me the way to that calm, perfect peace
Which springs from an inward consciousness of right;
To where all conflicts with the flesh shall cease,
And self shall radiate with the spirit's light.
Though hard the journey and the strife, I pray,
Show me the way.
Scheme | ababcCdedecCfgfgcChihicC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101111011 1111111011 1111010101 11111110111 1111110001 1101 1101110101 1101110101 1111111111 0111110111 1111011111 1101 1101011101 0111101010 0111011101 011101010010 1111111111 1101 1101111011 11111010011 1110110111 01110010101 1101000111 1101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 949 |
Words | 190 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 24 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 749 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 188 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 29, 2023
- 57 sec read
- 121 Views
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"Show me the Way" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10785/show-me-the-way>.
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