Analysis of William Forster
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
The years are many since his hand
Was laid upon my head,
Too weak and young to understand
The serious words he said.
Yet often now the good man's look
Before me seems to swim,
As if some inward feeling took
The outward guise of him.
As if, in passion's heated war,
Or near temptation's charm,
Through him the low-voiced monitor
Forewarned me of the harm.
Stranger and pilgrim! from that day
Of meeting, first and last,
Wherever Duty's pathway lay,
His reverent steps have passed.
The poor to feed, the lost to seek,
To proffer life to death,
Hope to the erring,--to the weak
The strength of his own faith.
To plead the captive's right; remove
The sting of hate from Law;
And soften in the fire of love
The hardened steel of War.
He walked the dark world, in the mild,
Still guidance of the Light;
In tearful tenderness a child,
A strong man in the right.
From what great perils, on his way,
He found, in prayer, release;
Through what abysmal shadows lay
His pathway unto peace,
God knoweth : we could only see
The tranquil strength he gained;
The bondage lost in liberty,
The fear in love unfeigned.
And I,--my youthful fancies grown
The habit of the man,
Whose field of life by angels sown
The wilding vines o'erran,--
Low bowed in silent gratitude,
My manhood's heart enjoys
That reverence for the pure and good
Which blessed the dreaming boy's.
Still shines the light of holy lives
Like star-beams over doubt;
Each sainted memory, Christlike, drives
Some dark possession out.
O friend! O brother I not in vain
Thy life so calm and true,
The silver dropping of the rain,
The fall of summer dew!
How many burdened hearts have prayed
Their lives like thine might be
But more shall pray henceforth for aid
To lay them down like thee.
With weary hand, yet steadfast will,
In old age as in youth,
Thy Master found thee sowing still
The good seed of His truth.
As on thy task-field closed the day
In golden-skied decline,
His angel met thee on the way,
And lent his arm to thine.
Thy latest care for man,--thy last
Of earthly thought a prayer,--
Oh, who thy mantle, backward cast,
Is worthy now to wear?
Methinks the mound which marks thy bed
Might bless our land and save,
As rose, of old, to life the dead
Who touched the prophet's grave
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFXF GHGH IXIX XXXE JKJK GLGL MXMA NXNN XOXO XPXP QRQR SMSM TUTU GVGV HWHW BXBX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (89%) |
Metre | 01110111 110111 1101101 0100111 11010111 011111 11110101 010111 1101101 1111 11011100 011101 10010111 110101 010111 1100111 01110111 110111 11010101 011111 1101101 011111 010001011 010111 11011001 110101 01010001 011001 11110111 110101 1101011 11101 1111101 010111 01010100 01011 01110101 010101 11111101 01011 1101010 11101 110010101 110101 11011101 111101 11010011 110101 111101101 111101 01010101 011101 11010111 111111 11111111 111111 1101111 011101 11011101 011111 11111101 010101 11011101 011111 11011111 110101 11110101 110111 1011111 1110101 11111101 11011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,172 |
Words | 415 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 18 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 72 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 97 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:07 min read
- 91 Views
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"William Forster" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23283/william-forster>.
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