Analysis of Nox Nocti Indicat Scientiam
William Habington 1605 (Hindlip Hall) – 1654
WHEN I survey the bright
Celestial sphere;
So rich with jewels hung, that Night
Doth like an Ethiop bride appear:
My soul her wings doth spread
And heavenward flies,
Th' Almighty's mysteries to read
In the large volumes of the skies.
For the bright firmament
Shoots forth no flame
So silent, but is eloquent
In speaking the Creator's name.
No unregarded star
Contracts its light
Into so small a character,
Removed far from our human sight,
But if we steadfast look
We shall discern
In it, as in some holy book,
How man may heavenly knowledge learn.
It tells the conqueror
That far-stretch'd power,
Which his proud dangers traffic for,
Is but the triumph of an hour:
That from the farthest North,
Some nation may,
Yet undiscover'd, issue forth,
And o'er his new-got conquest sway:
Some nation yet shut in
With hills of ice
May be let out to scourge his sin,
Till they shall equal him in vice.
And then they likewise shall
Their ruin have;
For as yourselves your empires fall,
And every kingdom hath a grave.
Thus those celestial fires,
Though seeming mute,
The fallacy of our desires
And all the pride of life confute:--
For they have watch'd since first
The World had birth:
And found sin in itself accurst,
And nothing permanent on Earth.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD AEXE XAFA GHGH FFXF IJIJ KLKL XXXX MXMA XNAN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (82%) |
Metre | 110101 0101 11110111 1111101 110111 011 11110011 00110101 1011 1111 11011100 010011 111 111 01110100 011110101 11111 1101 01101101 111100101 110100 11110 11110101 110101110 110101 1101 1010101 010111101 110110 1111 11111111 11110101 01111 1101 110111001 010010101 1101010 1101 0100110010 0101111 111111 0111 0110011 01010011 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,343 |
Words | 222 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 89 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 20 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:08 min read
- 73 Views
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"Nox Nocti Indicat Scientiam" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40635/nox-nocti-indicat-scientiam>.
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