Analysis of Noblesse Oblige
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
I hold it the duty of one who is gifted
And specially dowered I all men’s sight,
To know no rest till his life is lifted
Fully up to his great gifts’ height.
He must mould the man into rare completeness,
For gems are only in gold refined.
He must fashion his thoughts into perfect sweetness,
And cast out folly and pride from his mind.
For he who drinks from a god’s gold fountain
Of art of music or rhythmic song
Must sift from his soul the chaff of malice,
And weed from his heart the roots of wrong.
Great gifts should be worn, like a crown befitting,
And not like gems in a beggar’s hands!
And the toil must be constant and unremitting
Which lifts up the king to the crown’s demands.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD XECE FGFG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 111010111110 010011111 1111111110 10111111 11101011010 111100101 111011010110 0111001111 1111101110 111101101 1111101110 011110111 11111101010 011100101 00111100010 1110110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 704 |
Words | 135 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 135 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 69 Views
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"Noblesse Oblige" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10726/noblesse-oblige>.
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