Analysis of The Prayer Of Nature
George Gordon Lord Byron 1788 (London) – 1824 (Missolonghi, Aetolia)
Father of Light! great God of Heaven!
Hear'st thou the accents of despair?
Can guilt like man's be e'er forgiven?
Can vice atone for crimes by prayer?
Father of Light, on thee I call!
Thou seest my soul is dark within;
Thou who canst'mark the sparrow's fall,
Avert from me the death of sin.
No shrine I seek, to sects unknown;
Oh, point to me the path of truth!
Thy dread omnipotence I own;
Spare, yet amend, the faults of youth.
Let bigots rear a gloomy fane,
Let superstitition hail the pile,
Let priests, to spread their sable reign,
With tales of mystic rites beguile.
Shall man confine his Maker's sway
To Gothic domes of mouldering stone?
Thy temple is the face of the day;
Earth, ocean, heaven, thy boundless throne.
Shall man condemn his race to hell,
Unless they bend in pompous form?
Tell us that all, of one who fell,
Must perish in the mingling storm?
Shall each pretend to reach the skies,
Yet doom his brother to expire,
Whose soul a different hope supplies,
Or doctrines less severe inspire?
Shall these, by creeds they can't expound,
Prepare a fancied bliss or woe?
Shall reptiles, grovelling on the ground,
Their great Creator's purpose know?
Shall those, who live for self alone,
Whose years float on in a daily crime -
Shall they by Faith for guilt atone,
And live beyond the bounds of Time?
Father! no prophet's laws I seek,-
Thy laws in Nature's works appear;-
I own myself corrupt and weak,
Yet will I pray, for thou wilt hear!
Thou, who canst guide the wandering star
Through trackness realms of other's space;
Who calm'st the elemental war,
Whose hand from pole to pole I trace.
Thou, who in wisdom placed me here,
Who, when thou wilt, canst take me hence,
Ah! whilst I tread this earthly sphere,
Extend to me thy wide defence.
To Thee, my God, to thee I call!
Whatever weal or woe betide,
By thy command I rise or fall,
In thy protection I confide.
If, when this dust to dust's restored,
My soul shall float on airy wing,
How shall thy glorious name adored
Inspire her feedle voice to sing!
But, if this fleeting spirit share
With clay the gaves eternal bed,
While life yet throbs I raise my prayer,
Though doom'd no more to quit the dead.
To Thee I breathe my humble strain;
Grateful for all thy mercies past,
And hope, my God, to thee again
This erring life may fly at last.
December 29, 1806
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IEIE JKJK LMLM NONO EPEP QRQS XTXT SURU CVCV WXWX BYBY GZXZ X |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101111110 111010101 1111110010 11011111 10111111 11111101 111011 01110111 11111101 11110111 11010011 11010111 11010101 11101 11111101 11110101 11011101 1101111 110101101 110101101 11011111 01110101 11111111 110001001 11011101 11110101 110100101 11010101 11111101 01010111 1101101 111101 11111101 111100101 11111101 01010111 1011111 11010101 1110101 11111111 111101001 1111101 11100101 11111111 11010111 11111111 11111101 01111101 11111111 1011101 11011111 01010101 11111101 11111101 111100101 0101111 11110101 11010101 11111111 11111101 11111101 10111101 01111101 11011111 010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,263 |
Words | 429 |
Sentences | 29 |
Stanzas | 17 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1 |
Lines Amount | 65 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 105 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 29, 2023
- 2:13 min read
- 204 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Prayer Of Nature" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15240/the-prayer-of-nature>.
Discuss this George Gordon Lord Byron poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In