Analysis of The Temple
Katharine Tynan 1861 (Ireland) – 1931
WHAT of Louvain and of Rheims
Made for God by man? What then?
Here be temples more than man's
Wrought by God for His own men.
Scattered in the rain and frost,
Marred of beauty, there they be,
Temples of the Holy Ghost,
Broken, ruined piteously.
Bodies all so finely wrought,
Cunning deftness shaped them well;
These, God's ultimate, loving thought
For His Spirit's citadel.
Beautiful from head to foot,
Young, dear darlings all unflawed
For their mother's kiss. What brute
Dares deface the image of God?
Oh, the Temple's down! all marred
Gay and golden boys must lie:
Bitter-sweet as spikenard
Is the old name we called them by.
Hush! God's Temple in its fall
Breaks to set the spirit free
From the golden cage and thrall.
Into heaven-winged liberty.
From the cage the bird is flown,
Sings so high above our sphere.
Hush,--be never a sigh or moan:
The fledged bird flies without fear.
All our loves are gathered in,
Every gay and golden lad;
On new raiment, white and clean,
They behold God and are glad.
Scheme | ABAB CDXE FEFE XCXX XECX EDED GHGH XIXI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (75%) |
Metre | 111011 1111111 1110111 1111111 1000101 1110111 1010101 10101 1011101 101111 11100101 111010 1001111 111011 1110111 10101011 1010111 1010111 10111 10111111 1110011 1110101 1010101 01101100 1010111 11101101 11100111 0111011 11011100 10010101 111101 1011011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,003 |
Words | 182 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 98 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 56 sec read
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