Analysis of Affliction (II)

George Herbert 1593 (Montgomery) – 1633 (Bemerton)



Kill me not ev'ry day,
Thou Lord of life, since thy one death for me
Is more than all my deaths can be,
Though I in broken pay
Die over each hour of Methusalem's stay.

If all men's tears were let
Into one common sewer, sea, and brine;
What were they all, compar'd to thine?
Wherein if they were set,
They would discolour thy most bloody sweat.

Thou art my grief alone,
Thou Lord conceal it not:  and as thou art
All my delight, so all my smart:
Thy cross took up in one,
By way of imprest, all my future moan.


Scheme ABBAA CDDCC EFFXE
Poetic Form Tetractys  (27%)
Metre 11111 1111111111 11111111 110101 110110111 111101 0111010101 10110111 011101 11111101 111101 1101110111 11011111 111101 111111101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 511
Words 104
Sentences 5
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 128
Words per stanza (avg) 34
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 30, 2023

32 sec read
73

George Herbert

The Very Reverend Honourable George Herbert was an Anglican priest. more…

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