Analysis of A Thanksgiving to God for His House
Robert Herrick 1591 (London) – 1674 (Dean Prior)
Lord, Thou hast given me a cell
Wherein to dwell;
An little house, whose humble roof
Is weather-proof;
Under the spars of which I lie
Both soft and dry;
Where Thou my chamber for to ward
Hast set a guard
Of harmless thoughts, to watch and keep
Me, while I sleep.
Low is my porch as is my fate,
Both void of state;
And yet the threshold of my door
Is worn by'th' poor,
Who thither come, and freely get
Good words, or meat;
Like as my parlour, so my hall
And kitchen's small;
A little butterie and therein
A little bin,
Which keeps my little loaf of bread
Unchipp'd, unflay'd;
Some brittle sticks of thorn or briar
Make me a fire,
Close by whose living coal I sit,
And glow like it.
Lord, I confess too, when I dine,
The pulse is Thine,
And all those other bits that be
There plac'd by Thee;
The worts, the purslain, and the mess
Of water-cress,
Which of Thy kindness Thou hast sent;
And my content
Makes those, and my beloved beet,
To be more sweet.
'Tis Thou that crown'st my glitt'ring hearth
With guiltless mirth;
And giv'st me wassail bowls to drink,
Spic'd to the brink.
Lord, 'tis Thy plenty-dropping hand
That soils my land;
And giv'st me, for my bushel sown,
Twice ten for one;
Thou mak'st my teeming hen to lay
Her egg each day;
Besides my healthful ewes to bear
Me twins each year;
The while the conduits of my kine
Run cream (for wine.)
All these, and better Thou dost send
Me, to this end,
That I should render, for my part,
A thankful heart,
Which, fir'd with incense, I resign
As wholly Thine;
But the acceptance, that must be,
My Christ, by Thee.
Scheme | AABBCCDEFFGGHIJKLLMMNDOOPPQQRRSSTTKKUVWWXXYZ1 1 2 3 MQ4 4 5 5 QQRR |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110101 0111 11011101 1101 10011111 1101 11110111 1101 11011101 1111 11111111 1111 0101111 111111 1110101 1111 11110111 0101 0101001 0101 11110111 11 110111110 11010 11110111 0111 11011111 0111 01110111 1111 0101001 1101 11110111 0110 1101011 1111 11111111 1101 0111111 1101 11110101 1111 01111101 1111 111110111 0111 01110111 1111 010100111 1111 11010111 1111 11110111 0101 110101101 1101 10010111 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,566 |
Words | 300 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 58 |
Lines Amount | 58 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,186 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 297 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 24, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 129 Views
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"A Thanksgiving to God for His House" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31258/a-thanksgiving-to-god-for-his-house>.
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