Analysis of Even-song
George Herbert 1593 (Montgomery) – 1633 (Bemerton)
Blest be the God of love,
Who gave me eyes, and light, and power this day,
Both to be busy, and to play.
But much more blest be God above,
Who gave me sight alone,
Which to himself he did deny:
For when he sees my ways, I die:
But I have got his son, and he hath none.
What have I brought thee home
For this thy love? have I discharg'd the debt,
Which this day's favour did beget?
I ran; but all I brought, was foam.
Thy diet, care and cost
Do end in bubbles, balls of wind;
Of wind to thee whom I have crost,
But balls of wild-fire to my troubled mind.
Yet still thou goest on,
And now with darkness closest weary eyes,
Saying to man, 'It doth suffice:
Henceforth repose; your work is done.'
Thus in thy Ebony box
Thou dost enclose us, till the day
Put our amendment in our way,
And give new wheels to our disorder'd clocks.
I muse, which shows more love,
The day or night: that is the gale, this th' harbour;
That is the walk, and this the arbour;
Or that is the garden, this the grove.
My God, thou art all love.
Not one poor minute scapes thy breast,
But brings a favour from above;
And in this love, more than in bed, I rest.
Scheme | ABBAXCCD EFFEXGBG XXXDHBBH AIIXAJAJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110111 11110101011 11110011 11111101 111101 11011101 11111111 1111110111 111111 1111110101 1111101 11111111 110101 11010111 11111111 11111011101 11111 0111010101 10111101 11011111 1011001 11011101 1100100101 01111100101 111111 0111110111110 110101010 111010101 111111 11110111 1101101 0011110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,127 |
Words | 231 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 212 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 57 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 175 Views
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"Even-song" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15347/even-song>.
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