Analysis of Second Sunday After Epiphany
John Keble 1792 (Fairford) – 1866 (Bournemouth)
The heart of childhood is all mirth:
We frolic to and fro
As free and blithe, as if on earth
Were no such thing as woe.
But if indeed with reckless faith
We trust the flattering voice,
Which whispers, "Take thy fill ere death,
Indulge thee and rejoice;"
Too surely, every setting day,
Some lost delight we mourn;
The flowers all die along our way
Till we, too, die forlorn.
Such is the world's gay garish feast,
In her first charming bowl
Infusing all that fires the breast,
And cheats the unstable soul.
And still, as loud the revel swells,
The fevered pulse beats higher,
Till the seared taste from foulest wells
Is fain to slake its fire.
Unlike the feast of heavenly love
Spread at the Saviour's word
For souls that hear His call, and prove
Meet for His bridal board.
Why should we fear, youth's draught of joy
If pure would sparkle less?
Why should the cup the sooner cloy,
Which God hath deigned to bless?
For, is it Hope, that thrills so keen
Along each bounding vein,
Still whispering glorious things unseen? -
Faith makes the vision plain.
The world would kill her soon: but Faith
Her daring dreams will cherish,
Speeding her gaze o'er time and death
To realms where nought can perish.
Or is it Love, the dear delight
Of hearts that know no guile,
That all around see all things bright
With their own magic smile?
The silent joy that sinks so deep,
Of confidence and rest,
Lulled in a father's arms to sleep,
Clasped to a mother's breast?
Who, but a Christian, through all life
That blessing may prolong?
Who, through the world's sad day of strife,
Still chant his morning song?
Fathers may hate us or forsake,
God's foundlings then are we:
Mother on child no pity take,
But we shall still have Thee.
We may look home, and seek in vain
A fond fraternal heart,
But Christ hath given His promise plain
To do a Brother's part.
Nor shall dull age, as worldlings say,
The heavenward flame annoy:
The Saviour cannot pass away,
And with Him lives our joy.
Ever the richest, tenderest glow
Sets round the autumnal sun -
But there sight fails: no heart may know
The bliss when life is done.
Such is Thy banquet, dearest Lord;
O give us grace, to cast
Our lot with Thine, to trust Thy word,
And keep our best till last.
Scheme | ABAB CDED FGFG XHIH JKJK XLXM NONO PQPQ CRER STST UIUI VWVW XYXY QZQZ FNFN B1 B1 M2 L2 |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (94%) |
Metre | 0111111 110101 11011111 011111 11011101 1101001 11011111 011001 110100101 110111 0101101101 111101 11011101 001101 010111001 0100101 01110101 0101110 1011111 1111110 010111001 11011 11111101 111101 11111111 111101 11010101 111111 11111111 011101 1100100101 110101 01110111 0101110 100110101 1111110 11110101 111111 11011111 111101 01011111 110001 10010111 110101 11010111 110101 11011111 111101 10111101 11111 10111101 111111 11110101 010101 111101101 110101 1111111 01101 0110101 0111101 1001011 1100101 11111111 011111 11110101 111111 101111111 0110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,229 |
Words | 412 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 17 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 68 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 102 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:06 min read
- 104 Views
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"Second Sunday After Epiphany" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23599/second-sunday-after-epiphany>.
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