Analysis of God

Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)




   THOUGHT of the Infinite--the All!
   Be thou my God.

Lover Divine, and Perfect Comrade!
   Waiting, content, invisible yet, but certain,
   Be thou my God.

Thou--thou, the Ideal Man!
   Fair, able, beautiful, content, and loving,
   Complete in Body, and dilate in Spirit,
   Be thou my God.

O Death--(for Life has served its turn;)                           10
   Opener and usher to the heavenly mansion!
   Be thou my God.

Aught, aught, of mightiest, best, I see, conceive, or know,
   (To break the stagnant tie--thee, thee to free, O Soul,)
   Be thou my God.

Or thee, Old Cause, when'er advancing;
   All great Ideas, the races' aspirations,
   All that exalts, releases thee, my Soul!
   All heroisms, deeds of rapt enthusiasts,
   Be ye my Gods!                                                     20

Or Time and Space!
   Or shape of Earth, divine and wondrous!
   Or shape in I myself--or some fair shape, I, viewing, worship,
   Or lustrous orb of Sun, or star by night:
   Be ye my Gods.


Scheme xA xbA xcxA xbA xdA cxdxe xxxxe
Poetic Form
Metre 11010001 1111 10010011 101001001110 1111 110011 11010010010 01010001010 1111 11111111 1000101010010 1111 1111001110111 110101111111 1111 111110010 11010010010 1101010111 11111010 1111 1101 111101010 11011111111010 1101111111 1111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,004
Words 157
Sentences 15
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 2, 3, 4, 3, 3, 5, 5
Lines Amount 25
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 92
Words per stanza (avg) 33
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 22, 2023

47 sec read
180

Walt Whitman

Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. more…

All Walt Whitman poems | Walt Whitman Books

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