Analysis of Upon TheBegger
John Bunyan 1628 (Elstow, Bedfordshire) – 1688 (London)
He wants, he asks, he pleads his poverty,
They within doors do him an alms deny.
He doth repeat and aggravate his grief,
But they repulse him, give him no relief.
He begs, they say, Begone; he will not hear,
But coughs, sighs, and makes signs he still is there;
They disregard him, he repeats his groans;
They still say nay, and he himself bemoans.
They grow more rugged, they call him vagrant;
He cries the shriller, trumpets out his want.
At last, when they perceive he'll take no nay,
An alms they give him without more delay.
This beggar doth resemble them that pray
To God for mercy, and will take no nay,
But wait, and count that all his hard gainsays
Are nothing else but fatherly delays;
Then imitate him, praying souls, and cry:
There's nothing like to importunity.
Scheme | ABCCXXDDXXEE EEDXBA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111100 1011111101 110101011 1101111101 111111111 1110111111 101110111 1111010101 1111011110 110110111 1111011111 1111101101 1101010111 1111001111 110111111 1101110001 110110101 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 794 |
Words | 144 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 6 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 300 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 71 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 43 sec read
- 106 Views
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"Upon TheBegger" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22185/upon-thebegger>.
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