Analysis of John Ballard

Edgar Lee Masters 1868 (Garnett) – 1950 (Elkins Park)



In the lust of my strength
I cursed God, but he paid no attention to me:
I might as well have cursed the stars.
In my last sickness I was in agony, but I was resolute
And I cursed God for my suffering;
Still He paid no attention to me;
He left me alone, as He had always done.
I might as well have cursed the Presbyterian steeple.
Then, as I grew weaker, a terror came over me:
Perhaps I had alienated God by cursing him.
One day Lydia Humphrey brought me a bouquet
And it occurred to me to try to make friends with God,
So I tried to make friends with Him;
But I might as well have tried to make friends with the bouquet.
Now I was very close to the secret,
For I really could make friends with the bouquet
By holding close to me the love in me for the bouquet
And so I was creeping upon the secret, but --


Scheme ABCDEBFGBHIJHIKIIK
Poetic Form
Metre 001111 111111101011 11111101 0111011010011110 011111100 111101011 1110111111 1111110010010 1111100101101 0111100011101 111001011001 0101111111111 11111111 11111111111001 1111011010 11101111001 11011101011001 011110010101
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 798
Words 168
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 18
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 622
Words per stanza (avg) 166
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

50 sec read
52

Edgar Lee Masters

Edgar Lee Masters was an American poet, biographer, and dramatist. more…

All Edgar Lee Masters poems | Edgar Lee Masters Books

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