Analysis of God's Grief
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
"Lord God of Hosts," the people pray,
"Make strong our arms that we may slay
Our cursed foe and win the day."
"Lord God of Battles," cries the foe,
"Guide us to strike a bloody blow,
And lay the adversary low."
But brooding o'er the battle smother
Bewails the Lord: "Brother to brother,
Why must ye slaughter one another?
When will ye come to understand
My peace, and hand reach out to hand,
In every race, in every land?"
And yet, his weary words despite,
Went murderously on the fight,
Till God from mankind hid His sight,
Saying: "Poor children, must you gain
To brotherhood through millions slain?
--Was anguish on the Cross in vain?"
Scheme | AAABBB CCCDDD EEEFFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110101 111011111 10110101 11110101 11110101 0101001 1101001010 10110110 111101010 1111101 11011111 0100101001 01110101 11101 11111111 10110111 1101101 11010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 629 |
Words | 123 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 162 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 38 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 134 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"God's Grief" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32147/god%27s-grief>.
Discuss this Robert William Service poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In