Analysis of O Pulchritudo

Sir Henry Newbolt 1862 (Bilston, Staffordshire) – 1938 (Kensington, London)



O Saint whose thousand shrines our feet have trod
And our eyes loved thy lamp's eternal beam,
Dim earthly radiance of the Unknown God,
Hope of the darkness, light of them that dream,
Far off, far off and faint, O glimmer on
Till we thy pilgrims from the road are gone.

O Word whose meaning every sense hath sought,
Voice of the teeming field and grassy mound,
Deep-whispering fountain of the wells of thought,
Will of the wind and soul of all sweet sound,
Far off, far off and faint, O murmur on
Till we thy pilgrims from the road are gone.


Scheme ababcD efefcD
Poetic Form
Metre 11110110111 01011110101 11010010011 1101011111 1111011101 1111010111 11110100111 1101010101 11001010111 1101011111 1111011101 1111010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 537
Words 104
Sentences 3
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 6, 6
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 212
Words per stanza (avg) 51
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

31 sec read
69

Sir Henry Newbolt

Sir Henry John Newbolt, CH was an English poet, novelist and historian. He also had a very powerful role as a government adviser, particularly on Irish issues and with regard to the study of English in England. He is perhaps best remembered for his poems "Vitaï Lampada" and "Drake's Drum". more…

All Sir Henry Newbolt poems | Sir Henry Newbolt Books

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