Analysis of Upon The Horse and His Rider
John Bunyan 1628 (Elstow, Bedfordshire) – 1688 (London)
There's one rides very sagely on the road,
Showing that he affects the gravest mode.
Another rides tantivy, or full trot,
To show much gravity he matters not.
Lo, here comes one amain, he rides full speed,
Hedge, ditch, nor miry bog, he doth not heed.
One claws it up-hill without stop or check,
Another down as if he'd break his neck.
Now every horse has his especial guider;
Then by his going you may know the rider.
Now let us turn our horse into a man,
His rider to a spirit, if we can.
Then let us, by the methods of the guider,
Tell every horse how he should know his rider.
Some go, as men, direct in a right way,
Nor are they suffered to go astray;
As with a bridle they are governed,
And kept from paths which lead unto the dead.
Now this good man has his especial guider,
Then by his going let him know his rider.
Some go as if they did not greatly care,
Whether of heaven or hell they should be heir.
The rein, it seems, is laid upon their neck,
They seem to go their way without a check.
Now this man too has his especial guider,
And by his going he may know his rider.
Some again run as if resolved to die,
Body and soul, to all eternity.
Good counsel they by no means can abide;
They'll have their course whatever them betide.
Now these poor men have their especial guider,
Were they not fools they soon might know their rider.
There's one makes head against all godliness,
Those too, that do profess it, he'll distress;
He'll taunt and flout if goodness doth appear,
And at its countenancers mock and jeer.
Now this man, too, has his especial guider,
And by his going he might know his rider.
Scheme | aabbccddee ffeeggxxeehhddEexxiieejjkkEe |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111101101 1011010101 01011111 1111001101 111111111 111111111 1111101111 0101111111 110011101010 11110111010 11111010101 1101010111 11110101010 110011111110 1111010011 111101101 110101110 0111111001 11111101010 11110111110 1111111101 10110111111 0111110111 1111110101 11111101010 01110111110 1011110111 1001110100 1101111101 111110101 11111101010 01111111110 11110111 1111011101 1101110101 0111101 11111101010 01110111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,589 |
Words | 312 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 28 |
Lines Amount | 38 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 619 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 155 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:35 min read
- 175 Views
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"Upon The Horse and His Rider" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22172/upon-the-horse-and-his-rider>.
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