Analysis of Carthusians
Through what long heaviness, assayed in what strange fire,
Have these white monks been brought into the way of peace,
Despising the world's wisdom and the world's desire,
Which from the body of this death bring no release?
Within their austere walls no voices penetrate;
A sacred silence only, as of death, obtains;
Nothing finds entry here of loud or passionate;
This quiet is the exceeding profit of their pains.
From many lands they came, in divers fiery ways;
Each knew at last the vanity of earthly joys;
And one was crowned with thorns, and one was crowned with bays,
And each was tired at last of the world's foolish noise.
It was not theirs with Dominic to preach God's holy wrath,
They were too stern to bear sweet Francis' gentle sway;
Theirs was a higher calling and a steeper path,
To dwell alone with Christ, to meditate and pray.
A cloistered company, they are companionless,
None knoweth here the secret of his brother's heart:
They are but come together for more loneliness,
Whose bond is solitude and silence all their part.
O beatific life! Who is there shall gainsay,
Your great refusal's victory, your little loss,
Deserting vanity for the more perfect way,
The sweeter service of the most dolorous Cross.
Ye shall prevail at last! Surely ye shall prevail!
Your silence and austerity shall win at last:
Desire and mirth, the world's ephemeral lights shall fail,
The sweet star of your queen is never overcast.
We fling up flowers and laugh, we laugh across the wine;
With wine we dull our souls and careful strains of art;
Our cups are polished skulls round which the roses twine:
None dares to look at Death who leers and lurks apart.
Move on, white company, whom that has not sufficed!
Our viols cease, our wine is death, our roses fail:
Pray for our heedlessness, O dwellers with the Christ!
Though the world fall apart, surely ye shall prevail.
Scheme | ABAB XCXC DEDE FGFG BHXH GIGI JKJK LHLH MJMJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1111101110 111111010111 0100110001010 110101111101 01101111010 010101011101 101101111100 1101001010111 1101110101001 111101001101 011111011111 0111011101101 11111100111101 101111110101 110101000101 11011111001 010100111 11101011101 111101011100 11110010111 11111111 1111001101 100100101011 0101010111 110111101101 11001001111 01001010100111 01111111010 1111001110101 1111101010111 1011101110101 111111110101 111100111101 10111011110101 11101110101 101101101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,841 |
Words | 329 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 41 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 164 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 17, 2023
- 1:40 min read
- 90 Views
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"Carthusians" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12779/carthusians>.
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