Analysis of Centennial Hymn
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
I.
Our fathers' God! from out whose hand
The centuries fall like grains of sand,
We meet to-day, united, free,
And loyal to our land and Thee,
To thank Thee for the era done,
And trust Thee for the opening one.
II.
Here, where of old, by Thy design,
The fathers spake that word of Thine
Whose echo is the glad refrain
Of rended bolt and falling chain,
To grace our festal time, from all
The zones of earth our guests we call.
III.
Be with us while the New World greets
The Old World thronging all its streets,
Unveiling all the triumphs won
By art or toil beneath the sun;
And unto common good ordain
This rivalship of hand and brain.
IV.
Thou, who hast here in concord furled
The war flags of a gathered world,
Beneath our Western skies fulfil
The Orient's mission of good-will,
And, freighted with love's Golden Fleece,
Send back its Argonauts of peace.
V.
For art and labor met in truce,
For beauty made the bride of use,
We thank Thee; but, withal, we crave
The austere virtues strong to save,
The honor proof to place or gold,
The manhood never bought nor sold.
VI.
Oh make Thou us, through centuries long,
In peace secure, in justice strong;
Around our gift of freedom draw
The safeguards of Thy righteous law
And, cast in some diviner mould,
Let the new cycle shame the old!
Scheme | ABBCCDD AEEFFGG AHHDDFF IBXGXJJ CKKIILL AMMNNLL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1 101011111 010011111 11110101 010110101 11110101 011101001 1 11111101 01011111 11010101 1110101 11101111 011110111 1 11110111 0111111 01010101 11110101 01010101 111101 1 1111011 01110101 01101011 0110111 0111101 1111011 1 11010101 11010111 1111111 00110111 01011111 0110111 1 111111001 01010101 011011101 0111101 010111 10110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,248 |
Words | 241 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 166 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 40 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:12 min read
- 134 Views
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