Analysis of The Good Man in Hell
Edwin Muir 1887 (Orkney) – 1959 (Cambridge)
If a good man were ever housed in Hell
By needful error of the qualities,
Perhaps to prove the rule or shame the devil,
Or speak the truth only a stranger sees,
Would he, surrendering quick to obvious hate,
Fill half eternity with cries and tears,
Or watch beside Hell's little wicket gate
In patience for the first ten thousand years,
Feeling the curse climb slowly to his throat
That, uttered, dooms him to rescindless ill,
Forcing his praying tongue to run by rote,
Eternity entire before him still?
Would he at last, grown faithful in his station,
Kindle a little hope in hopeless Hell,
And sow among the damned doubts of damnation,
Since here someone could live, and live well?
One doubt of evil would bring down such a grace,
Open such a gate, and Eden could enter in,
Hell be a place like any other place,
And love and hate and life and death begin.
Scheme | ABXB CXCX DEDE FAFA GHGH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (80%) Tetractys (20%) Etheree (20%) |
Metre | 1011010101 1101010100 01110111010 1101100101 110100111001 1101001101 1101110101 0101011101 1001110111 11011111 1011011111 01000100111 11111100110 1001010101 01010111010 11111011 11110111101 101010101100 1101110101 0101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 845 |
Words | 159 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 135 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 03, 2023
- 48 sec read
- 63 Views
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