Analysis of A Christmas Prayer (from the trenches)
Not yet for us may Christmas bring
Good-will to men, and peace;
In our dark sky no angels sing,
Not yet the great release
For men, when war shall cease.
So must the guns our carols make,
Our gifts must bullets be,
For us no Christmas bells shall wake;
These ruined homes shall see
No Christmas revelry.
In hardened hearts we fain would greet
The Babe at Christmas born,
But lo, He comes with pierced feet,
Wearing a crown of thorn,-
His side a spear has torn.
For tired eyes are all too dim,
Our hearts too full of pain,
Our ears too deaf to hear the hymn
Which angels sing in vain,
'The Christ is born again.'
O Jesus, pitiful, draw near,
That even we may see
The Little Child who knew not fear;
Thus would we picture Thee
Unmarred by agony.
O'er death and pain triumphant yet
Bid Thou Thy harpers play,
That we may hear them, and forget
Sorrow and all dismay,
And welcome Thee to stay
With us on Christmas Day.
Scheme | ABABB CDCDD EFEFF GHGHX IDIDD JKJKKK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111101 111101 010111101 110101 111111 110110101 1011101 11110111 110111 110100 01011111 011101 1111111 100111 110111 11011111 1011111 101111101 110101 011101 11010011 110111 01011111 111101 11100 101010101 111101 11111001 100101 010111 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 890 |
Words | 179 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6 |
Lines Amount | 31 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 118 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 53 sec read
- 112 Views
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"A Christmas Prayer (from the trenches)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42775/a-christmas-prayer-%28from-the-trenches%29>.
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