Analysis of A Christmas Carmen

John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)



I.
Sound over all waters, reach out from all lands,
The chorus of voices, the clasping of hands;
Sing hymns that were sung by the stars of the morn,
Sing songs of the angels when Jesus was born!
With glad jubilations
Bring hope to the nations!
The dark night is ending and dawn has begun:
Rise, hope of the ages, arise like the sun,
All speech flow to music, all hearts beat as one!

II.
Sing the bridal of nations! with chorals of love
Sing out the war-vulture and sing in the dove,
Till the hearts of the peoples keep time in accord,
And the voice of the world is the voice of the Lord!
Clasp hands of the nations
In strong gratulations:
The dark night is ending and dawn has begun;
Rise, hope of the ages, arise like the sun,
All speech flow to music, all hearts beat as one!

III.
Blow, bugles of battle, the marches of peace;
East, west, north, and south let the long quarrel cease
Sing the song of great joy that the angels began,
Sing of glory to God and of good-will to man!
Hark! joining in chorus
The heavens bend o’er us!
The dark night is ending and dawn has begun;
Rise, hope of the ages, arise like the sun,
All speech flow to music, all hearts beat as one!


Scheme abbccbdEEE affggdbEEE ahhiijjEEE
Poetic Form Etheree  (27%)
Tetractys  (23%)
Metre 1 11011011111 0101100111 11101101101 11101011011 111 111010 01111001101 11101001101 11111011111 1 101011011011 11011001001 101101011001 001101101101 111010 011 01111001101 11101001101 11111011111 1 11011001011 11101101101 101111101001 111011011111 110010 010111 01111001101 11101001101 11111011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,152
Words 229
Sentences 14
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 10, 10, 10
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 299
Words per stanza (avg) 76
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

1:08 min read
135

John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. more…

All John Greenleaf Whittier poems | John Greenleaf Whittier Books

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