Analysis of A Poem Of Faith



I think that though the clouds be dark,
That though the waves dash o'er the bark,
Yet after while the light will come,
And in calm waters safe at home
The bark will anchor.
Weep not, my sad-eyed, gray-robed maid,
Because your fairest blossoms fade,
That sorrow still o'erruns your cup,
And even though you root them up,
The weeds grow ranker.

For after while your tears shall cease,
And sorrow shall give way to peace;
The flowers shall bloom, the weeds shall die,
And in that faith seen, by and by
Thy woes shall perish.
Smile at old Fortune's adverse tide,
Smile when the scoffers sneer and chide.
Oh, not for you the gems that pale,
And not for you the flowers that fail;
Let this thought cherish:

That after while the clouds will part,
And then with joy the waiting heart
Shall feel the light come stealing in,
That drives away the cloud of sin
And breaks its power.
And you shall burst your chrysalis,
And wing away to realms of bliss,
Untrammelled, pure, divinely free,
Above all earth's anxiety
From that same hour.


Scheme AAXXBCCDDB EEFFGHHIIG JJKKBLLMMB
Poetic Form Etheree  (40%)
Metre 11110111 110111001 11010111 00110111 01110 11111111 01110101 1101111 01011111 01110 11011111 01011111 010110111 00111101 11110 11110011 1101101 11110111 011101011 11110 11010111 01110101 11011100 11010111 01110 01111100 01011111 110101 01110100 11110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,001
Words 188
Sentences 7
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 10, 10, 10
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 266
Words per stanza (avg) 62
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 16, 2023

57 sec read
48

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 Lyrics of a Lowly Life one poem in the collection being Ode to Ethiopia more…

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