Analysis of Unspoken Words
John Boyle O'Reilly 1844 (Dowth) – 1890 (Boston)
THE kindly words that rise within the heart,
And thrill it with their sympathetic tone,
But die ere spoken, fail to play their part,
And claim a merit that is not their own.
The kindly word unspoken is a sin,—
A sin that wraps itself in purest guise,
And tells the heart that, doubting, looks within,
That not in speech, but thought, the virtue lies.
But 'tis not so: another heart may thirst
For that kind word, as Hagar in the wild—
Poor banished Hagar!—prayed a well might burst
From out the sand to save her parching child.
And loving eyes that cannot see the mind
Will watch the expected movement of the lip:
Ah! can ye let its cutting silence wind
Around that heart, and scathe it like a whip?
Unspoken words, like treasures in the mine,
Are valueless until we give them birth:
Like unfound gold their hidden beauties shine,
Which God has made to bless and gild the earth.
How sad 'twould be to see a master's hand
Strike glorious notes upon a voiceless lute!
But oh! what pain when, at God's own command,
A heart-string thrills with kindness, but is mute!
Then hide it not, the music of the soul.
Dear sympathy, expressed with kindly voice,
But let it like a shining river roll
To deserts dry,—to hearts that would rejoice.
Oh! let the symphony of kindly words
Sound for the poor, the friendless, and the weak;
And he will bless you,—he who struck these chords
Will strike another when in turn you seek.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH IJIJKLKL MNMNXOXO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101110101 011110101 1111011111 0101011111 0101010101 0111010101 0101110101 1101110101 1111010111 1111110001 1101010111 110111011 0101110101 11001010101 1111110101 0111011101 0101110001 1100011111 111110101 1111110101 1111110101 11001010101 1111111101 0111110111 1111010101 1100011101 1111010101 1101111101 1101001101 110101001 0111111111 1101010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,419 |
Words | 264 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 275 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 65 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 1:19 min read
- 150 Views
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"Unspoken Words" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22102/unspoken-words>.
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