Analysis of There's Work To Be Done
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
'Tis the song of the morning,
The words of the sun,
As he swings o'er the mountains:
'There's work to be done:
I must wake up the sleepers,
And banish the night;
I must paint up the heavens,
Tuck the stars out of sight;
'Dry the dew on the meadows,
Put warmth in the air,
Chase the fog from the lowlands,
Stay gloom everywhere.
No pausing, no resting,
There's work to be done.
It is upward and onward,
Still on,' says the sun.
'Tis the song of our soldiers
Who bravely march on:
'There are souls to be gathered,
There's work to be done:
We must wake up the sleepers,
And teach them to think;
We must paint in full horrors
The breakers of drink;
'Dry the tears of the mourners,
Put the cups out of sight,
And, Eastward and Westward,
Proclaim, 'There is light.'
'Tis the Marseillaise of Progress-
There's work to be done,'
The song of our soldiers,
The song of the sun.
Scheme | abcBdece xfxfaBgb dxgBdhdh degexBdb |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011010 01101 11110010 11111 1111010 01001 1111010 101111 101101 11001 101101 1110 110110 11111 1110010 11101 10111010 11011 1111110 11111 1111010 01111 1110110 01011 1011010 101111 010010 01111 10111 11111 0111010 01101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 844 |
Words | 170 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 163 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 144 Views
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"There's Work To Be Done" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10939/there%27s-work-to-be-done>.
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