Analysis of Courtesy

Hilaire Belloc 1870 (La Celle-Saint-Cloud) – 1953



Of Courtesy, it is much less
Than Courage of Heart or Holiness,
Yet in my Walks it seems to me
That the Grace of God is in Courtesy.

On Monks I did in Storrington fall,
They took me straight into their Hall;
I saw Three Pictures on a wall,
And Courtesy was in them all.

The first the Annunciation;
The second the Visitation;
The third the Consolation,
Of God that was Our Lady's Son.

The first was of St. Gabriel;
On Wings a-flame from Heaven he fell;
And as he went upon one knee
He shone with Heavenly Courtesy.

Our Lady out of Nazareth rode -
It was Her month of heavy load;
Yet was her face both great and kind,
For Courtesy was in Her Mind.

The third it was our Little Lord,
Whom all the Kings in arms adored;
He was so small you could not see
His large intent of Courtesy.

Our Lord, that was Our Lady's Son,
Go bless you, People, one by one;
My Rhyme is written, my work is done.


Scheme XXAA BBBB CCCC XXAA DDEE FFAA CCC
Poetic Form
Metre 11001111 110111100 10111111 1011110100 1111011 11110111 11110101 01001011 0101 0100010 010010 111110101 01111100 110111011 01110111 111100100 1010111001 11011101 11011101 11001001 011110101 11010101 11111111 11011100 1011110101 11110111 111101111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 867
Words 178
Sentences 9
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3
Lines Amount 27
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 97
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

54 sec read
133

Hilaire Belloc

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902, but kept his French citizenship. more…

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