Analysis of The Law
The sun may be clouded, yet ever the sun
Will sweep on its course till the cycle is run.
And when onto chaos the systems are hurled,
Again shall the Builder reshape a new world.
Your path may be clouded, uncertain your goal;
Move on, for the orbit is fixed for your soul.
And though it may lead into darkness of night,
The torch of the Builder shall give you new light.
You were, and you will be: know this while you are,
Your spirit has travelled both long and afar.
It came from the Source, to the Source it returns;
The spark that was lighted, eternally burns.
It slept in the jewel, it leaped in the wave,
It roamed in the forest, it rose in the grave,
It took on strange garbs for long eons of years,
And now in the soul of yourself it appears.
From body to body your spirit speeds on;
It seeks a new form when the old one is gone;
And the form that it finds is the fabric you wrought
On the loom of the mind, with the fibre of thought.
As dew is drawn upward, in rain to descend,
Your thoughts drift away and in destiny blend.
You cannot escape them; or petty, or great,
Or evil, or noble, they fashion your fate.
Somewhere on some planet, sometime and somehow,
Your life will reflect all the thoughts of your now.
The law is unerring; no blood can atone;
The structure you rear you must live it alone.
From cycle to cycle, through time and through space,
Your lives with your longings will ever keep pace.
And all that you ask for, and all you desire,
Must come at your bidding, as flames out of fire.
Once list to that voice and all tumult is done,
Your life is the life of the Infinite One’
In the hurrying race you are conscious of pause,
With love for the purpose and love for the cause.
You are your own devil, you are your own God,
You fashioned the paths that your footsteps have trod;
And no one can save you from error or sin,
Until you shall hark to the spirit within.
Scheme | AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH XXII JJKK LLMM NNOO AAXX PPQQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (80%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 01111011001 11111101011 01101001011 01101001011 11111001011 11101011111 01111011011 01101011111 10011111111 11011011001 11101101101 01111001001 11001011001 11001011001 11111111011 01001101101 11011011011 11011101111 001111101011 101101101011 11111001101 11101001001 11001111011 11011011011 11110101 11101101111 011111101 01011111101 11011011011 11111011011 011111011010 111110111110 11111011011 11101101001 001001111011 11101001101 11111011111 1100111111 01111111011 01111101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,877 |
Words | 370 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 146 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 28, 2023
- 1:51 min read
- 279 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Law" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10863/the-law>.
Discuss this Ella Wheeler Wilcox poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In