Analysis of Repentance
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
"If you repent," the Parson said,"
Your sins will be forgiven.
Aye, even on your dying bed
You're not too late for heaven."
That's just my cup of tea, I thought,
Though for my sins I sorrow;
Since salvation is easy bought
I will repent . . . to-morrow.
To-morrow and to-morrow went,
But though my youth was flying,
I was reluctant to repent,
having no fear of dying.
'Tis plain, I mused, the more I sin,
(To Satan's jubilation)
When I repent the more I'll win
Celestial approbation.
So still I sin, and though I fail
To get snow-whitely shriven,
My timing's good: I home to hail
The last bus up to heaven.
Scheme | ABAB XCXC DEDE FBFB GBGB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11010101 1111010 11011101 1111110 11111111 1111110 10101101 1101110 11001101 1111110 11010101 1011110 11110111 11010 11010111 010010 11110111 111101 1111111 0111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 598 |
Words | 116 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 90 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 30, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 82 Views
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"Repentance" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32393/repentance>.
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