Analysis of Prayer

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919



Lord, let us pray.

Give us the open mind, O God,
The mind that dares believe
In paths of thought as yet untrod;
The mind that can conceive
Large visions of a wider way
Than circumscribes our world to-day.

May tolerance temper our own faith,
However great our zeal;
When others speak of life and death,
Let us not plunge a steel
Into the heart of one who talks
In terms we deem unorthodox.

Help us to send our thoughts through space,
Where worlds in trillions roll,
Each fashioned for its time and place,
Each portion of the whole;
Till our weak minds may feel a sense
Of Thy Supreme Omnipotence.

Let us not shame Thee with a creed
That builds a costly church
But blinds us to a brother's need
Because he dares to search
For truth in his own soul and heart
And finds his church in home and mart.

Give us the faith that makes us kind,
Give us the open sight and mind-
O God, the open mind
That lifts itself to meet the Ray
Of the New Dawning Day:
Lord, let us pray.


Scheme A bcbcaa xdxdxx efefxx ghghii jjjaaA
Poetic Form
Metre 1111 11010111 011101 0111111 011101 11010101 1110111 1100101011 101101 11011101 111101 01011111 0111010 111110111 110101 11011101 110101 110111101 11010100 11111101 110101 11110101 011111 11011101 01110101 11011111 11010101 110101 11011101 101101 1111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 941
Words 190
Sentences 7
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 1, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 31
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 125
Words per stanza (avg) 31
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 28, 2023

57 sec read
78

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet. more…

All Ella Wheeler Wilcox poems | Ella Wheeler Wilcox Books

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