Analysis of Chance
Helen Hunt Jackson 1830 (Amherst, Massachusetts) – 1885 (San Francisco)
These things wondering I saw beneath the sun:
That never yet the race was to the swift,
The fight unto the mightiest to lift,
Nor favors unto men whose skill had done
Great works, nor riches ever unto one
Wise man of understanding. All is drift
Of time and chance, and none may stay or sift
Or know the end of that which is begun.
Who waits until the wind shall silent keep,
Will never find the ready hour to sow.
Who watcheth clouds will have no time to reap.
At daydawn plant thy seed, and be not slow
At night. God doth not slumber take nor sleep:
Which seed shall prosper thou shalt never know.
Scheme | ABBAABBACDCECE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11100110101 1101011101 0110010011 1101011111 1111010101 111010111 1101011111 1101111101 1101011101 11010101011 111111111 111110111 1111110111 1111011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 606 |
Words | 118 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 469 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 116 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 195 Views
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"Chance" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17054/chance>.
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