Analysis of St. John's, Cambridge

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)



I stand beneath the tree, whose branches shade
Thy western window, Chapel of St. John!
And hear its leaves repeat their benison
On him, whose hand thy stones memorial laid;
Then I remember one of whom was said
In the world's darkest hour, "Behold thy son!"
And see him living still, and wandering on
And waiting for the advent long delayed.
Not only tongues of the apostles teach
Lessons of love and light, but these expanding
And sheltering boughs with all their leaves implore,
And say in language clear as human speech,
"The peace of God, that passeth understanding,
Be and abide with you forevermore!"


Scheme ABBACDBAEFGEFG
Poetic Form
Metre 1101011101 1101010111 01110111 11111101001 1101011111 00110100111 01110101001 010101101 1101100101 10110111010 01001111101 0101011101 011111010 1001111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 600
Words 109
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 480
Words per stanza (avg) 105
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
88

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. more…

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