Analysis of Who Is A Christian?
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Who is a Christian in this Christian land
Of many churches and of lofty spires?
Not he who sits in soft upholstered pews
Bought by the profits of unholy greed,
And looks devotion, while he thinks of gain.
Not he who sends petitions from the lips
That lie to-morrow in the street and mart.
Not he who fattens on another's toil,
And flings his unearned riches to the poor,
Or aids the heathen with a lessened wage,
And builds cathedrals with an increased rent.
Christ, with Thy great, sweet, simple creed of love,
How must Thou weary of Earth's 'Christian' clans,
Who preach salvation through Thy saving blood
While planning slaughter of their fellow men.
Who is a Christian? It is one whose life
Is built on love, on kindness and on faith;
Who holds his brother as his other self;
Who toils for justice, equity and PEACE,
And hides no aim or purpose in his heart
That will not chord with universal good.
Though he be pagan, heretic or Jew,
That man is Christian and beloved of Christ.
Scheme | ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSGTUV |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101001101 1101001101 1111010101 1101010101 0101011111 1111010101 1111000101 111110101 0110110101 1101010101 0101011011 1111110111 1111011101 1101011101 1101011101 1101011111 1111110011 1111011101 1111010001 0111110011 111110101 1111010011 1111000111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 991 |
Words | 181 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 23 |
Lines Amount | 23 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 775 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 179 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 54 sec read
- 88 Views
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"Who Is A Christian?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/11001/who-is-a-christian%3F>.
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