Analysis of The Soul of the City Receives the Gift of the Holy Spirit
Vachel Lindsay 1879 (Springfield) – 1931 (Springfield)
A BROADSIDE DISTRIBUTED IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS
Censers are swinging,
Over the town;
Censers are swinging,
Look overhead!
Censers are swinging,
Heaven comes down.
City, dead city,
Awake from the dead!
Censers, tremendous,
Gleam overhead.
Wind-harps are ringing,
Wind-harps unseen—
Calling and calling:—
"Wake from the dead.
Rise, little city,
Shine like a queen."
Soldiers of Christ
For battle grow keen.
Heaven-sent winds
Haunt alley and lane.
Singing of life
In town-meadows green
After the toil
And battle and pain.
Incense is pouring
Like the spring rain
Down on the mob
That moil through the street.
Blessed are they
Who behold it and gain
Power made more mighty
Thro' every defeat.
Builders, toil on.
Make all complete.
Make Springfield wonderful.
Make her renown
Worthy this day,
Till, at God's feet,
Tranced, saved forever,
Waits the white town.
Censers are swinging
Over the town,
Censers gigantic!
Look overhead!
Hear the winds singing:—
"Heaven comes down.
City, dead city,
Awake from the dead."
Scheme | x ABACABDC xcaeacde xexfxexf afxghfdg xgxbhgxb ABxCaBDC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101000101 1110 1001 1110 1101 1110 1011 10110 01101 1010 1101 11110 1101 10010 1101 11010 1101 1011 11011 1011 11001 1011 0111 1001 01001 01110 1011 1101 11101 111 101101 101110 110001 1011 1101 11100 1001 1011 1111 11010 1011 1110 1001 1010 1101 10110 1011 10110 01101 |
Closest metre | Iambic dimeter |
Characters | 973 |
Words | 166 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 49 |
Letters per line (avg) | 16 |
Words per line (avg) | 3 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 113 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 49 sec read
- 107 Views
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"The Soul of the City Receives the Gift of the Holy Spirit" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/37400/the-soul-of-the-city-receives-the-gift-of-the-holy-spirit>.
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