Analysis of From the Hymn of Empedocles
Matthew Arnold 1822 (Laleham) – 1888 (Liverpool)
IS it so small a thing
To have enjoy'd the sun,
To have lived light in the spring,
To have loved, to have thought, to have done;
To have advanced true friends, and beat down baffling foes;
That we must feign a bliss
Of doubtful future date,
And while we dream on this
Lose all our present state,
And relegate to worlds yet distant our repose?
Not much, I know, you prize
What pleasures may be had,
Who look on life with eyes
Estranged, like mine, and sad:
And yet the village churl feels the truth more than you;
Who 's loth to leave this life
Which to him little yields:
His hard-task'd sunburnt wife,
His often-labour'd fields;
The boors with whom he talk'd, the country spots he knew.
But thou, because thou hear'st
Men scoff at Heaven and Fate;
Because the gods thou fear'st
Fail to make blest thy state,
Tremblest, and wilt not dare to trust the joys there are.
I say, Fear not! life still
Leaves human effort scope.
But, since life teems with ill,
Nurse no extravagant hope.
Because thou must not dream, thou need'st not then despair.
Scheme | ABABC DEDEC FGFGH IJIJH KEKEX LMLMX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (23%) Etheree (23%) |
Metre | 111101 110101 1111001 111111111 1101110111001 111101 110101 011111 1110101 010111101001 111111 110111 111111 011101 010101101111 1111111 111101 11111 11011 011111010111 1101111 1111001 0101111 111111 10111110111 111111 110101 111111 1101001 0111111111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,305 |
Words | 194 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 134 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 104 Views
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