Analysis of Requital
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
As Islam's Prophet, when his last day drew
Nigh to its close, besought all men to say
Whom he had wronged, to whom he then should pay
A debt forgotten, or for pardon sue,
And, through the silence of his weeping friends,
A strange voice cried: 'Thou owest me a debt,'
'Allah be praised!' he answered. 'Even yet
He gives me power to make to thee amends.
O friend! I thank thee for thy timely word.'
So runs the tale. Its lesson all may heed,
For all have sinned in thought, or word, or deed,
Or, like the Prophet, through neglect have erred.
All need forgiveness, all have debts to pay
Ere the night cometh, while it still is day.
Scheme | ABBACDDCEFFGBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011011111 111111111 1111111111 0101011101 0101011101 011111101 1011110101 11110111101 1111111101 1101110111 1111011111 1101010111 1101011111 1011011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 623 |
Words | 125 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 477 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 120 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 84 Views
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"Requital" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23024/requital>.
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