Analysis of Not Understood
Thomas Bracken 1843 (Clones, County Monaghan) – 1898 (Dunedin)
Not understood, we move along asunder;
Our paths grow wider as the seasons creep
Along the years; we marvel and we wonder
Why life is life, and then we fall asleep
Not understood.
Not understood, we gather false impressions
And hug them closer as the years go by;
Till virtues often seem to us transgressions;
And thus men rise and fall, and live and die
Not understood.
Not understood! Poor souls with stunted vision
Oft measure giants with their narrow gauge;
The poisoned shafts of falsehood and derision
Are oft impelled 'gainst those who mould the age,
Not understood.
Not understood! The secret springs of action
Which lie beneath the surface and the show,
Are disregarded; with self-satisfaction
We judge our neighbours, and they often go
Not understood.
Not understood! How trifles often change us!
The thoughtless sentence and the fancied slight
Destroy long years of friendship, and estrange us,
And on our souls there falls a freezing blight;
Not understood.
Not understood! How many breasts are aching
For lack of sympathy! Ah! day by day
How many cheerless, lonely hearts are breaking!
How many noble spirits pass away,
Not understood.
O God! that men would see a little clearer,
Or judge less harshly where they cannot see!
O God! that men would draw a little nearer
To one another, -- they'd be nearer Thee,
And understood.
Scheme | ababC dedeC fgfgC fhfhC ijijC klklC amamc |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011101010 10111010101 01011100110 1111011101 101 1011101010 0111010111 11010111010 0111010101 101 1011111010 1101011101 0101110010 1101111101 101 1010101110 1101010001 101011010 1110101101 101 1011101011 0101000101 01111100011 01101110101 101 1011101110 1111001111 1101101110 1101010101 101 11111101010 1111011101 11111101010 1101011101 001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,409 |
Words | 229 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 153 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 191 Views
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"Not Understood" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/36100/not-understood>.
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