Analysis of Of The Rose Bush
John Bunyan 1628 (Elstow, Bedfordshire) – 1688 (London)
This homely bush doth to mine eyes expose
A very fair, yea, comely ruddy rose.
This rose doth also bow its head to me,
Saying, Come, pluck me, I thy rose will be;
Yet offer I to gather rose or bud,
Ten to one but the bush will have my blood.
This looks like a trapan,[34] or a decoy,
To offer, and yet snap, who would enjoy;
Yea, the more eager on't, the more in danger,
Be he the master of it, or a stranger.
Bush, why dost bear a rose if none must have it.
Who dost expose it, yet claw those that crave it?
Art become freakish? dost the wanton play,
Or doth thy testy humour tend its way?
This rose God's Son is, with his ruddy looks.
But what's the bush, whose pricks, like tenter-hooks,
Do scratch and claw the finest lady's hands,
Or rend her clothes, if she too near it stands?
This bush an emblem is of Adam's race,
Of which Christ came, when he his Father's grace
Commended to us in his crimson blood,
While he in sinners' stead and nature stood.
Thus Adam's race did bear this dainty rose,
And doth the same to Adam's race expose;
But those of Adam's race which at it catch,
Adam's race will them prick, and claw, and scratch.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGG HHIIJJCXAAKK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101111101 0101110101 1111011111 1011111111 1101110111 1111011111 1110111001 1100111101 101101101010 11010111010 11110111111 11011111111 101110101 111101111 1111111101 110111111 1101010101 1101111111 1111011101 1111111101 0101101101 1101010101 1101111101 0101110101 1111011111 1011110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,129 |
Words | 226 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 14, 12 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 429 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 111 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 62 Views
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"Of The Rose Bush" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22143/of-the-rose-bush>.
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