Analysis of The Habit of Perfection
Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844 (Stratford, London) – 1889 (Dublin)
Elected Silence, sing to me
And beat upon my whorlèd ear,
Pipe me to pastures still and be
The music that I care to hear.
Shape nothing, lips; be lovely-dumb:
It is the shut, the curfew sent
From there where all surrenders come
Which only makes you eloquent.
Be shellèd, eyes, with double dark
And find the uncreated light:
This ruck and reel which you remark
Coils, keeps, and teases simple sight.
Palate, the hutch of tasty lust,
Desire not to be rinsed with wine:
The can must be so sweet, the crust
So fresh that come in fasts divine!
Nostrils, your careless breath that spend
Upon the stir and keep of pride,
What relish shall the censers send
Along the sanctuary side!
O feel-of-primrose hands, O feet
That want the yield of plushy sward,
But you shall walk the golden street
And you unhouse and house the Lord.
And, Poverty, be thou the bride
And now the marriage feast begun,
And lily-coloured clothes provide
Your spouse not laboured-at nor spun.
Scheme | ABAB CXCX DEDE FGFG HIHI JKJK ILIL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (86%) |
Metre | 01010111 01011111 11110101 01011111 11011101 11010101 11110101 11011100 11111101 01011 11011101 11010101 10011101 010111111 01111101 11110101 10110111 01010111 1101011 0101001 1111111 1101111 11110101 0110101 01001101 01010101 01010101 1111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 958 |
Words | 173 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 107 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 438 Views
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