Analysis of Hymn Of The Children

John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)



Thine are all the gifts, O God!
Thine the broken bread;
Let the naked feet be shod,
And the starving fed.

Let Thy children, by Thy grace,
Give as they abound,
Till the poor have breathing-space,
And the lost are found.

Wiser than the miser's hoards
Is the giver's choice;
Sweeter than the song of birds
Is the thankful voice.

Welcome smiles on faces sad
As the flowers of spring;
Let the tender hearts be glad
With the joy they bring.

Happier for their pity's sake
Make their sports and plays,
And from lips of childhood take
Thy perfected praise!


Scheme ABAB CDCD XEXE FGFG HIHI
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 1110111 10101 1010111 00101 1110111 11101 1011101 00111 101011 1011 1010111 10101 1011101 101011 1010111 10111 1001111 11101 011111 10101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 536
Words 102
Sentences 7
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 86
Words per stanza (avg) 20
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 13, 2023

31 sec read
148

John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. more…

All John Greenleaf Whittier poems | John Greenleaf Whittier Books

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