Analysis of The Maid Of Jerusalem

John Clare 1793 (Helpston) – 1864 (St Andrew's Hospital)



Maid of Jerusalem, by the Dead Sea,
I wandered all sorrowing thinking of thee,--
Thy city in ruins, thy kindred deplored,
All fallen and lost by the Ottoman's sword.

I saw thee sit there in disconsolate sighs,
Where the hall of thy fathers a ruined heap lies.
Thy fair finger showed me the place where they trod,
In thy childhood where flourished the city of God.

The place where they fell and the scenes where they lie,
In the tomb of Siloa--the tear in her eye
She stifled: transfixed there it grew like a pearl,
Beneath the dark lash of the sweet Jewish Girl.

Jerusalem is fallen! still thou art in bloom,
As fresh as the ivy around the lone tomb,
And fair as the lily of morning that waves
Its sweet-scented bells over desolate graves.

When I think of Jerusalem in kingdoms yet free,
I shall think of its ruins and think upon thee;
Thou beautiful Jewess, content thou mayest roam;
A bright spot in Eden still blooms as thy home.


Scheme AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH AAII
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 1101001011 110111011 11001011001 110011011 11111011 101111001011 11101101111 01111001011 01111001111 0011101001 11001111101 01011101101 010011011101 11101001011 01101011011 11101101001 1111010001011 111111001011 11001010111 01101011111
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 921
Words 175
Sentences 8
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 37
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 146
Words per stanza (avg) 34
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

52 sec read
73

John Clare

John Clare was an English poet in his time he was commonly known as the Northamptonshire Peasant Poet more…

All John Clare poems | John Clare Books

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