Analysis of Sunday After Ascension
John Keble 1792 (Fairford) – 1866 (Bournemouth)
The Earth that in her genial breast
Makes for the down a kindly nest,
Where wafted by the warm south-west
It floats at pleasure,
Yields, thankful, of her very best,
To nurse her treasure:
True to her trust, tree, herb, or reed,
She renders for each scattered seed,
And to her Lord with duteous heed
Gives large increase:
Thus year by year she works unfeed,
And will not cease.
Woe worth these barren hearts of ours,
Where Thou hast set celestial flowers,
And watered with more balmy showers
Than e'er distilled
In Eden, on th' ambrosial bowers -
Yet nought we yield.
Largely Thou givest, gracious Lord,
Largely Thy gifts should be restored;
Freely Thou givest, and Thy word
Is, "Freely give."
He only, who forgets to hoard,
Has learned to live.
Wisely Thou givest--all around
Thine equal rays are resting found,
Yet varying so on various ground
They pierce and strike,
That not two roseate cups are crowned
With drew alike:
E'en so, in silence, likest Thee,
Steals on soft-handed Charity,
Tempering her gifts, that seem so free,
By time and place,
Till not a woe the bleak world see,
But finds her grace:
Eyes to the blind, and to the lame
Feet, and to sinners wholesome blame,
To starving bodies food and flame,
By turns she brings;
To humbled souls, that sink for shame,
Lends heaven-ward wings:
Leads them the way our Saviour went,
And shows Love's treasure yet unspent;
As when th' unclouded heavens were rent.
Opening His road,
Nor yet His Holy Spirit sent
To our abode.
Ten days th' eternal doors displayed
Were wondering (so th' Almighty bade)
Whom Love enthroned would send, in aid
Of souls that mourn,
Left orphans in Earth's dreary shade
As noon as born.
Open they stand, that prayers in throngs
May rise on high, and holy songs,
Such incense as of right belongs
To the true shrine,
Where stands the Healer of all wrongs
In light divine;
The golden censer in His hand,
He offers hearts from every land,
Tied to His own by gentlest band
Of silent Love:
About Him winged blessings stand
In act to move.
A little while, and they shall fleet
From Heaven to Earth, attendants meet
On the life-giving Paraclete
Speeding His flight,
With all that sacred is and sweet,
On saints to light.
Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, all
Shall feel the shower of Mercy fall,
And startling at th' Almighty's call,
Give what He gave,
Till their high deeds the world appal,
And sinners save.
Scheme | AAABAB CCCDAD EEEXEX FFXXFX GGGHGH IIIJIJ KKKLKL MMMNMN OOOPOP QQQRQR SSSXSX TTAUTU VVVWVW |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Burns stanza (73%) |
Metre | 01100101 11010101 11010111 11110 11010101 11010 11011111 11011101 0101111 1101 1111111 0111 111101110 111101010 010111010 11001 01011101010 1111 1011101 10111101 1011011 1101 11010111 1111 1011101 11011101 1100111001 1101 111100111 1101 11101011 11110100 100011111 1101 11010111 1101 11010101 10110101 11010101 1111 11011111 11011 11011011 01110101 111111001 10011 11110101 11001 1111010101 01001110101 1111101 1111 11001101 1111 10111101 11110101 10111101 1011 11010111 0101 01010011 110111001 111111001 1101 0111101 0111 01010111 110110101 101101 1011 11110101 1111 01010101 110101101 01011111 1111 1111011 0101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,357 |
Words | 424 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 78 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 143 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:08 min read
- 95 Views
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"Sunday After Ascension" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23627/sunday-after-ascension>.
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