Analysis of From Mount Gerizzim
John Bunyan 1628 (Elstow, Bedfordshire) – 1688 (London)
esides what I said of the Four Last Things,
And of the weal and woe that from them springs;
An after-word still runneth in my mind,
Which I shall here expose unto that wind
That may it blow into that very hand
That needs it. Also that it may be scann'd
With greatest soberness, shall be my prayer,
As well as diligence and godly care;
So to present it unto public view,
That only truth and peace may thence ensue.
My talk shall be of that amazing love
Of God we read of; which, that it may prove,
By its engaging arguments to save
Thee, I shall lay out that poor help I have
Thee to entice; that thou wouldst dearly fall
In love with thy salvation, and with all
That doth thereto concur, that thou mayst be
As blessed as the Blessed can make thee,
Not only here but in the world to come,
In bliss, which, I pray God, may be thy home.
But first, I would advise thee to bethink
Thyself, how sin hath laid thee at the brink
Of hell, where thou art lulled fast asleep
In Satan's arms, who also will thee keep
As senseless and secure as e'er he may,
Lest thou shouldst wake, and see't, and run away
Unto that Jesus, whom the Father sent
Into the world, for this cause and intent,
That such as thou, from such a thrall as this
Might'st be released, and made heir of bliss.
Now that thou may'st awake, the danger fly,
And so escape the death that others die,
Come, let me set my trumpet to thine ear,
Be willing all my message for to hear:
'Tis for thy life, O do it not refuse;
Wo unto them good counsel do abuse.
Thou art at present in that very case,
Which argues thou art destitute of grace:
For he that lies where sin hath laid him, lies
Under the curse, graceless, and so he dies
In body and in soul, within that range,
If God his heart in mercy doth not change
Before he goes the way of all the earth,
Before he lose his spirit and his breath.
Repentance there is none within the grave,
Nor Christ, nor grace, nor mercies for to save
Thee from the vengeance due unto thy sin,
If now thou dost not truly close with him.
Thou art like him that sleepeth in the sea
On broken boards, which, without guide or stay,
Are driven whither winds and water will;
While greedy beasts do wait to have their fill
By feeding on his carcass, when he shall
Turn overboard, and without mercy fall
Into the jaws of such as make a prey
Of those whom justice drowneth in the sea.
Thou art like him that snoring still doth lie
Upon the bed of vain security,
Whilst all about him into burning flame
By fire is turned; yea, and while the frame
And building where he lies consuming is,
And while himself these burnings cannot miss.
Thou art like one that hangeth by a thread
Over the mouth of hell, as one half-dead;
And O, how soon this thread may broken be,
Or cut by death, is yet unknown to thee!
But sure it is, if all the weight of sin,
And all that Satan, too, hath doing been,
Or yet can do, can break this crazy thread,
'Twill not be long before, among the dead,
Thou tumble do, as linked fast in chains,
With them to wait in fear for future pains.
What shall I say? Wilt thou not yet awake?
Nor yet of thy poor soul some pity take?
Among the lions it hood-winked lies;
O, that the Lord would open once thine eyes
That thou might'st see it, then I dare say thou,
As half-bereft of wits, wouldst cry out, How
Shall I escape? Lord help, O! help with speed,
Reach down thy hand from heav'n, for help I need,
To save me from the lions, for I fear
This soul of mine they will in pieces tear.
Come, then, and let us both expostulate
The case betwixt us, till we animate
And kindle in our hearts that burning love
To Christ, to grace, to life, that we may move
Swifter than eagles to this blessed prey;
Then shall it be well with us in that day
The trump shall sound, the dead made rise, and stand,
Then to receive, for breach of God's command,
Such thunder-claps as these, Depart from me
Into hell-fire, you that the wicked be,
Prepared for the devil, and for those
That with him and his angels rather chose
To live in filthy sin and wickedness,
Whose fruit is everlasting bitterness.
We both are yet on this side of the grave,
We also gospel-privileges have;
The word, and time to pray; God give us hearts,
That, like the wise man, w
Scheme | AA BB CC DD EE FG HI JJ KK XX LL MM NN OO PP QQ RR XX SS TT UU XX HH VX KN WW XJ NK QK XX XP YY KK VV YY ZZ LL TT 1 1 2 2 XD BX FG NN CC KK 3 3 4 4 HI XE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (21%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 111110111 0101011111 110111011 1111011011 1111011101 1111011111 11011111 1111000101 1110110101 1101011101 1111110101 1111111111 1101010011 1111111111 1101111101 0111010011 111011111 11101111 1101100111 0111111111 111101111 111111101 111111101 011110111 11000111011 11110110101 1011010101 0101111001 1111110111 1110101111 11111010101 0101011101 1111110111 1101110111 1111111101 1101110101 1111001101 110111011 1111111111 1001100111 0100010111 1111010111 0111011101 0111110011 0101110101 1111110111 1101011011 1111110111 111111001 1101101111 1101010101 1101111111 1101110111 110001101 0101111101 111101001 1111110111 0101110100 1101101101 1101110101 0101110101 0101110101 111111101 1001111111 0111111101 1111110111 1111110111 0111011101 1111111101 1111010101 110111101 1111011101 1111111101 1111111101 010101111 1101110111 11111111111 1101111111 1101111111 1111111111 1111010111 1111110101 1101111 0101111100 01001011101 1111111111 101101111 1111111011 0111011101 1101111101 1101110111 01110110101 011010011 1110110101 1101010100 111010100 1111111101 110101001 0101111111 11011100 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 4,112 |
Words | 819 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 50 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 100 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 65 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 16 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 4:08 min read
- 97 Views
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"From Mount Gerizzim" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22117/from-mount-gerizzim>.
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