Analysis of Adjustment
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
The tree of Faith its bare, dry boughs must shed
That nearer heaven the living ones may climb;
The false must fail, though from our shores of time
The old lament be heard, 'Great Pan is dead!'
That wail is Error's, from his high place hurled;
This sharp recoil is Evil undertrod;
Our time's unrest, an angel sent of God
Troubling with life the waters of the world.
Even as they list the winds of the Spirit blow
To turn or break our century-rusted vanes;
Sands shift and waste; the rock alone remains
Where, led of Heaven, the strong tides come and go,
And storm-clouds, rent by thunderbolt and wind,
Leave, free of mist, the permanent stars behind.
Therefore I trust, although to outward sense
Both true and false seem shaken; I will hold
With newer light my reverence for the old,
And calmly wait the births of Providence.
No gain is lost; the clear-eyed saints look down
Untroubled on the wreck of schemes and creeds;
Love yet remains, its rosary of good deeds
Counting in task-field and o'erpeopled town;
Truth has charmed life; the Inward Word survives,
And, day by day, its revelation brings;
Faith, hope, and charity, whatsoever things
Which cannot be shaken, stand. Still holy lives
Reveal the Christ of whom the letter told,
And the new gospel verifies the old.
Scheme | ABBACAXCDEEDFF XGGXHIIHXJJXGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111111111 11010010111 01111110111 0101111111 111111111 11011101 10101110111 10011010101 101110110101 111110100101 1101010101 11110011101 011111001 11110100101 11111101 1101110111 11011100101 0101011100 1111011111 0101011101 11011100111 10011011 1111010101 011110101 1101000101 11011011101 0101110101 001101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,251 |
Words | 227 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 14, 14 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 499 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 112 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:08 min read
- 24 Views
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"Adjustment" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22834/adjustment>.
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