Analysis of The Half-way House
Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844 (Stratford, London) – 1889 (Dublin)
Love I was shewn upon the mountain-side
And bid to catch Him ere the dropp of day.
See, Love, I creep and Thou on wings dost ride:
Love it is evening now and Thou away;
Love, it grows darker here and Thou art above;
Love, come down to me if Thy name be Love.
My national old Egyptian reed gave way;
I took of vine a cross-barred rod or rood.
Then next I hungered: Love when here, they say,
Or once or never took love's proper food;
But I must yield the chase, or rest and eat. -
Peace and food cheered me where four rough ways meet.
Hear yet my paradox: Love, when all is given,
To see Thee I must [see] Thee, to love, love;
I must o'ertake Thee at once and under heaven
If I shall overtake Thee at last above.
You have your wish; enter these walls, one said:
He is with you in the breaking of the bread.
Scheme | ABABCC BDBDEE FCFCGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111010101 0111110111 1111011111 1111010101 11110101101 1111111111 11001010111 1111011111 111111111 1111011101 1111011101 1011111111 11110111110 1111111111 11111101010 1111011101 1111101111 11110010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 807 |
Words | 165 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 203 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 55 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 17, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 115 Views
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"The Half-way House" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15894/the-half-way-house>.
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