Analysis of Presumption
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Whenever I am prone to doubt or wonder -
I check myself, and say, 'That mighty One
Who made the solar system cannot blunder -
And for the best all things are being done.'
Who set the stars on their eternal courses
Has fashioned this strange earth by come sure plan.
Bow low, bow low to those majestic forces,
Nor dare to doubt their wisdom - puny man.
You cannot put one little star in motion,
You cannot shape one single forest leaf,
Nor fling a mountain up, nor sink an ocean,
Presumptuous pigmy, large with unbelief.
You cannot bring one dawn of regal splendour
Nor bid the day to shadowy twilight fall,
Nor send the pale moon forth with radiance tender,
And dare you doubt the One who has done all?
'So much is wrong, there is such pain - such sinning.'
Yet look again - behold how much is right!
And He who formed the world from its beginning
Knows how o guide it upward to the light.
Your task, O man, is not to carp and cavil
At God's achievements, but with purpose strong
To cling to good, and turn away from evil -
That is the way to help the world along.
Scheme | ABABXCXC BDBDAEAE FGFGEHXH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011111110 111011101 11010101010 0101111101 11011101010 1101111111 11111101010 1111110101 11011101010 1101110101 11010111110 010010111 1101111101 1101110011 110111110010 0111011111 11111111110 1101011111 01110111010 1111110101 1111111101 1101011101 11110101110 1101110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,069 |
Words | 210 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 274 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 69 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 30, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 117 Views
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