Analysis of The Times

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919



The times are not degenerate.  Man’s faith
Mounts higher than of old.  No crumbling creed
Can take from the immortal soul the need
 Of that supreme Creator, God.  The wraith
Of dead beliefs we cherished in our youth
Fades but to let us welcome new-born Truth.

Man may not worship at the ancient shrine
Prone on his face, in self-accusing scorn.
That night is past.  He hails a fairer morn,
 And knows himself a something all divine;
No humble worm whose heritage is sin,
But, born of God, he feels the Christ within.

Not loud his prayers, as in the olden time,
But deep his reverence for that mighty force,
That occult working of the great all Source,
 Which makes the present era so sublime.
Religion now means something high and broad,
And man stood never half so near to God.


Scheme ABBACC DEEDFF GHHGXX
Poetic Form
Metre 0111010011 11011111001 1110010101 1101010101 11011100101 1111110111 1111010101 1111010101 1111110101 0101010101 1101110011 1111110101 1111100101 11110011101 1011010111 1101010101 0101110101 0111011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 780
Words 143
Sentences 10
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 202
Words per stanza (avg) 48
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

42 sec read
47

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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