Analysis of A Prayer for a Mother's Birthday
Henry Van Dyke 1852 (Germantown, Pennsylvania) – 1933 (Princeton, New Jersey)
Lord Jesus, Thou hast known
A mother's love and tender care:
And Thou wilt hear, while for my own
Mother most dear I make this birthday prayer.
Protect her life, I pray,
Who gave the gift of life to me;
And may she know, from day to day,
The deepening glow of Life that comes from Thee.
As once upon her breast
Fearless and well content I lay,
So let her heart, on Thee at rest,
Feel fears depart and troubles fade away.
Her every wish fulfill;
And even if Thou must refuse
In anything, let Thy wise will
A comfort bring such as kind mothers use.
Ah, hold her by the hand,
As once her hand held mine;
And though she may not understand
Life's winding way, lead her in peace divine.
I cannot pay my debt
For all the love that she has given;
But Thou, love's Lord, wilt not forget
Her due reward,--bless her in earth and heaven.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD ECEC FXFX GHGH IJIJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (83%) |
Metre | 110111 01010101 01111111 101111111 010111 11011111 01111111 01001111111 110101 10011011 11011111 1101010101 0100101 01011101 0101111 0101111101 110101 110111 0111101 1101100101 110111 110111110 11111101 01011001010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 810 |
Words | 164 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 106 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 23, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 176 Views
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"A Prayer for a Mother's Birthday" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18303/a-prayer-for-a-mother%27s-birthday>.
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