Analysis of Calef In Boston, 1692
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
IN the solemn days of old,
Two men met in Boston town,
One a tradesman frank and bold,
One a preacher of renown.
Cried the last, in bitter tone:
'Poisoner of the wells of truth!
Satan's hireling, thou hast sown
With his tares the heart of youth!'
Spake the simple tradesman then,
'God be judge 'twixt thee and me;
All thou knowed of truth hath been
Once a lie to men like thee.
'Falsehoods which we spurn to-day
Were the truths of long ago;
Let the dead boughs fall away,
Fresher shall the living grow.
'God is good and God is light,
In this faith I rest secure;
Evil can but serve the right,
Over all shall love endure.
'Of your spectral puppet play
I have traced the cunning wires;
Come what will, I needs must say,
God is true, and ye are liars.'
When the thought of man is free,
Error fears its lightest tones;
So the priest cried, 'Sadducee!'
And the people took up stones.
In the ancient burying-ground,
Side by side the twain now lie;
One with humble grassy mound,
One with marbles pale and high,
But the Lord hath blest the seed
Which that tradesman scattered then,
And the preacher's spectral creed
Chills no more the blood of men.
Let us trust, to one is known
Perfect love which casts out fear,
While the other's joys atone
For the wrong he suffered here.
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFGFHIHIJKJKHLHLFMLMNONOPEPECQCR |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (33%) |
Metre | 0010111 1110101 101101 1010101 1010101 110111 11111 1110111 101011 1111101 1111111 1011111 111111 0011101 1011101 1010101 1110111 0111101 1011101 1011101 111101 11101010 1111111 11101110 1011111 1011101 10111 0010111 00101001 1110111 1110101 1110101 1011101 111101 001011 1110111 1111111 0111111 1010101 1011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,235 |
Words | 242 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 40 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 977 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 237 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:12 min read
- 54 Views
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"Calef In Boston, 1692" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22869/calef-in-boston%2C-1692>.
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