Analysis of The Sword of Suprise

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



Sunder me from my bones, O sword of God
Till they stand stark and strange as do the trees;
That I whose heart goes up with the soaring woods
May marvel as much at these.

Sunder me from my blood that in the dark
I hear that red ancestral river run
Like branching buried floods that find the sea
But never see the sun.

Give me miraculous eyes to see my eyes
Those rolling mirrors made alive in me
Terrible crystals more incredible
Than all the things they see

Sunder me from my soul, that I may see
The sins like streaming wounds, the life's brave beat
Till I shall save myself as I would save
A stranger in the street.


Scheme XAXA XBCB XCXC CDXD
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 1011111111 1111011101 11111110101 1101111 1011111001 1111010101 1101011101 110101 11010011111 1101010101 1001010100 110111 1011111111 0111010111 111111111 010001
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 625
Words 123
Sentences 4
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 122
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
56

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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