Analysis of The New-Born Infant
Charles Lamb 1775 (Inner Temple, London) – 1834 (Edmonton, London)
Whether beneath sweet beds of roses,
As foolish little Ann supposes,
The spirit of a babe reposes
Before it to the body come;
Or, as philosophy more wise
Thinks, it descendeth from the skies,-
We know the babe's now in the room
And that is all which is quite clear
Even to philosophy, my dear.
The God that made us can alone
Reveal from whence a spirit's brought
Into young life, to light, and thought;
And this the wisest man must own.
We'll now talk of the babe's surprise,
When first he opens his new eyes,
And first receives delicious food.
Before the age of six or seven,
To mortal children is not given
Much reason; or I think he would
(And very naturally) wonder
What happy star he was born under,
That he should be the only care
Of the dear sweet-food-giving lady,
Who fondly calls him her own baby,
Her darling hope, her infant heir.
Scheme | AAAXBBX CCDEED BBXFFX GGHIIH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 100111110 110101010 0101011 01110101 11010011 111101 11011001 01111111 101010011 01111101 01110101 01111101 01010111 11110101 11110111 01010101 010111110 110101110 11011111 010100010 110111110 11110101 101111010 110110110 01010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 826 |
Words | 160 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 164 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 49 sec read
- 36 Views
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"The New-Born Infant" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5403/the-new-born-infant>.
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