Analysis of The Temper
George Herbert 1593 (Montgomery) – 1633 (Bemerton)
How should I praise thee, Lord! how should my rhymes
Gladly engrave thy love in steel,
If what my soul doth feel sometimes
My soul might ever feel!
Although there were some forty heav'ns, or more,
Sometimes I peer above them all;
Sometimes I hardly reach a score,
Sometimes to hell I fall.
O rack me not to such a vast extent;
Those distances belong to thee:
The world's too little for thy tent,
A grave too big for me.
Wilt thou meet arms with man, that thou dost stretch
A crum of dust from heav'n to hell?
Will great God measure with a wretch?
Shall he thy stature spell?
O let me, when thy roof my soul hath hid,
O let me roost and nestle there:
Then of a sinner thou art rid,
And I of hope and fear.
Yet take thy way; for sure thy way is best:
Stretch or contract me, thy poor debtor:
This is but tuning of my breast,
To make the music better.
Whether I fly with angels, fall with dust,
Thy hands made both, and I am there:
Thy power and love, my love and trust
Make one place ev'ry where.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIX KLKL MJMJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (86%) |
Metre | 1111111111 10011101 11111101 111101 110110111 01110111 01110101 011111 1111110101 11000111 01110111 011111 1111111111 01111111 11110101 111101 1111111111 11110101 11010111 011101 1111111111 11111110 11110111 1101010 1011110111 11110111 110011101 11111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 975 |
Words | 200 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 108 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 1:01 min read
- 79 Views
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"The Temper" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15404/the-temper>.
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