Analysis of The Higher Unity

Gilbert Keith Chesterton 1874 (Kensington, London) – 1936 (Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire)



The Rev. Isaiah Bunter has disappeared into the interior of the Solomon Islands, and it is feared that he may have been devoured by the natives, as there has been a considerable revival of religious customs among the Polynesians.--A real paragraph from a real Paper; only the names altered.

It was Isaiah Bunter
Who sailed to the world's end,
And spread religion in a way
That he did not intend.

He gave, if not the gospel-feast,
At least a ritual meal;
And in a highly painful sense
He was devoured with zeal.

And who are we (as Henson says)
That we should close the door?
And should not Evangelicals
All jump at shedding Gore?

And many a man will melt in man,
Becoming one, not two,
When smacks across the startled earth
The Kiss of Kikuyu.

When Man is the Turk, and the Atheist,
Essene, Erastian, Whig,
And the Thug and the Druse and the Catholic
And the crew of the Captain's gig.


Scheme X ABXB XCXC XAXA XXXX XDXD
Poetic Form
Metre 0110110101001001010010011111111010101011110010000101010100101011010110100110 11101 111011 01010001 111101 11110101 1101001 00010101 1101011 01111101 111101 011100 111101 010011101 010111 11010101 0111 1110100100 111 0010010010 00110101
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 872
Words 166
Sentences 10
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 21
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 115
Words per stanza (avg) 27
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

50 sec read
46

Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an influential English writer of the early 20th century His diverse output included journalism philosophy poetry biography Christian apologetics fantasy and detective fiction Gilbert Keith Chesterton KC*SG was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Time magazine observed of his writing style: "Whenever possible Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories—first carefully turning them inside out." more…

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