Analysis of To-Day
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
I saw a man who knelt in prayer,
And heard him say:
'I'll lay my inmost spirit bare
To-day.
'Lord, for to-morrow and its need
I do not pray;
Let me upon my neighbor feed
To-day.
'Let me my duty duly shirk
And run away
From any form or phase of work
To-day.
'From Thy commands exempted still
Let me obey
The promptings of my private will
To-day.
'Let me no word profane, no lie
Unthinking say
If anyone is standing by
To-day.
'My secret sins and vices grave
Let none betray;
The scoffer's jeers I do not crave
To-day.
'And if to-day my fortune all
Should ebb away,
Help me on other men's to fall
To-day.
'So, for to-morrow and its mite
I do not pray;
Just give me everything in sight
To-day.'
I cried: 'Amen!' He rose and ran
Like oil away.
I said: 'I've seen an honest man
To-day.'
Scheme | abaB cBcB dbdB ebeB fbfB gbgB hbhB iBiB jbjB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11011101 0111 1111101 11 11110011 1111 11011101 11 11110101 0101 11011111 11 11010101 1101 0111101 11 11110111 0101 1101101 11 11010101 1101 0111111 11 01111101 1101 11110111 11 11110011 1111 1111001 11 11011101 1101 11111101 11 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 754 |
Words | 157 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 16 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 64 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 17 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 129 Views
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"To-Day" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2021/to-day>.
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