Analysis of Daniel Neall
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
I.
FRIENDof the Slave, and yet the friend of all;
Lover of peace, yet ever foremost when
The need of battling Freedom called for men
To plant the banner on the outer wall;
Gentle and kindly, ever at distress
Melted to more than woman's tenderness,
Yet firm and steadfast, at his duty's post
Fronting the violence of a maddened host,
Like some-gray rock from which the waves are tossed!
Knowing his deeds of love, men questioned not
The faith of one whose walk and word were right;
Who tranquilly in Life's great task-field wrought,
And, side by side with evil, scarcely caught
A stain upon his pilgrim garb of white:
Prompt to redress another's wrong, his own
Leaving to Time and Truth and Penitence alone.
II.
Such was our friend. Formed on the good old plan,
A true and brave and downright honest man!
He blew no trumpet in the market-place,
Nor in the church with hypocritic face
Supplied with cant the lack of Christian grace;
Loathing pretence, he did with cheerful will
What others talked of while their hands were still;
And, while 'Lord, Lord!' the pious tyrants cried,
Who, in the poor, their Master crucified,
His daily prayer, far better understood.
In acts than words, was simply doing good.
So calm, so constant was his rectitude,
That by his loss alone we know its worth,
And feel how true a man has walked with us on earth.
Scheme | ABCCBDEFFGHIJHIKKALLMMMNNOOPPQRR |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1 101010111 101111011 01110010111 1101010101 1001010101 1011110100 11011111 1001001011 1111110111 1011111101 0111110101 11011111 0111110101 0101110111 1101010111 1011010101 1 11101110111 010101101 1111000101 1001111 0111011101 101111101 1101111101 0111010101 100111010 110111001 0111110101 111101110 1111011111 011101111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,315 |
Words | 242 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 32 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,050 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 239 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 12, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 142 Views
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"Daniel Neall" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22880/daniel-neall>.
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