Analysis of Now I lay Me
When I pass from earth away,
Palsied though I be and gray,
May my spirit keep so young
That my failing, faltering tongue
Frames that prayer so dear to me
Taught me at my mother's knee:
'Now I lay me down to sleep,'
(Passing to Eternal rest
On the loving parent breast)
'I pray the Lord my soul to keep;'
(From all danger safe and calm
In the hollow of His palm
'If I should die before I wake,'
(Drifting with a bated breath
Out of slumber into death,)
'I pray the Lord my soul to take.'
(From the body's claim set free
Sheltered in the Great to be.)
Simple prayer of trust and truth
Taught me in my early youth-
Let my soul its beauty keep
When I lay me down to sleep.
Scheme | AABBCC D EE D FF G HH G CCIIDD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111101 111101 1110111 11101001 1111111 1111101 1111111 1010101 1010101 11011111 1110101 0010111 11110111 1010101 1110011 11011111 1010111 1000111 1011101 1101101 1111101 1111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 655 |
Words | 142 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 6 |
Lines Amount | 22 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 56 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 15 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 90 Views
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"Now I lay Me" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10728/now-i-lay-me>.
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