Analysis of Waiting



Serene, I fold my hands and wait,
    Nor care for wind, nor tide, nor sea;
I rave no more 'gainst time or fate,
    For lo! my own shall come to me.

I stay my haste, I make delays,
    For what avails this eager pace?
I stand amid the eternal ways,
    And what is mine shall know my face.

Asleep, awake, by night or day,
    The friends I seek are seeking me;
No wind can drive my bark astray,
    Nor change the tide of destiny.

What matter if I stand alone?
    I wait with joy the coming years;
My heart shall reap where it hath sown,
    And garner up its fruit of tears.

The waters know their own and draw
    The brook that springs in yonder height;
So flows the good with equal law
    Unto the soul of pure delight.

The stars come nightly to the sky;
    The tidal wave unto the sea;
Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,
    Can keep my own away from me.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EBEB FXFX GHGH IBIB
Poetic Form Quatrain  (83%)
Metre 01111101 11111111 11111111 11111111 11111101 1111101 110100101 01111111 01011111 01111101 11111101 11011100 11011101 11110101 11111111 01011111 01011101 01110101 11011101 10011101 01110101 01011001 11111111 11110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 853
Words 169
Sentences 10
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 104
Words per stanza (avg) 28
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

50 sec read
1,284

John Burroughs

John Burroughs was an American naturalist and essayist important in the evolution of the U. more…

All John Burroughs poems | John Burroughs Books

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