Analysis of The Idler

Jones Very 1813 (Salem) – 1880



I IDLE stand that I may find employ,
Such as my Master when He comes will give;
I cannot find in mine own work my joy,
But wait, although in waiting I must live;
My body shall not turn which way it will,
But stand till I the appointed road can find,
And journeying so his messages fulfil,
And do at every step the work designed.
Enough for me, still day by day to wait
Till Thou who formest me findest me too a task,
A cripple lying at the rich man’s gate,
Content for the few crumbs I get to ask,
A laborer but in heart, while bound my hands
Hangidly down still waiting thy commands.


Scheme ABACDEAEFGFGHH
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111101 1111011111 1101011111 111010111 1101111111 11110010111 0100111001 01110010101 0111111111 1111111101 0101010111 1010111111 01001011111 11110101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 583
Words 119
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 452
Words per stanza (avg) 117
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
37

Jones Very

Jones Very was an American poet, essayist, clergymen, and mystic associated with the American Transcendentalism movement. more…

All Jones Very poems | Jones Very Books

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