Analysis of Psalms
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson 1832 (Kvikne) – 1910 (Paris)
I
I seem to be
Sundered from Thee,
Thou Harmony of all creation.
Am I disowned
For talents loaned
And useless hid in vain probation?
Now powerless,
In weariness,
Now in despair a beggar humble
For help, for cheer,
A voice, an ear,
To hear and guide, while on I stumble.
God, let me be.
Of use to Thee!
If vain my purpose and my powers,
Then sinks from sight
My star,-and night
Henceforth my steps enfolding lowers.
Then break and bind
My ravaged mind
The terrors dread of doubt and anguish.
I know the pack,
I drove them back;-
Only to-day does courage languish.
Oh, come now, peace!
Come faith's increase,
That life's strong chain shall ever bind me!
That not in vain
I strive and strain
Myself to seek until I find me!
II
Honor the springtide life ever adorning,
That all things has made!
Things smallest have some resurrectional morning,
The forms alone fade.
Life begets life,
Potencies higher surprise.
Kind begets kind,
Heedless of time as it flies.
Worlds pass away and arise.
Nothing so small but there's something still smaller,
No one can see.
Nothing so great but there's something still greater
Beyond it can be.
Worms in the earth-
Mountains to make they essay.
Dust without worth,
Sands with which sea-billows play,-
Founders of kingdoms were they.
Infinite all, where the smallest and greatest
Oneness unfold.
No one has seen what was first,-and the latest
None shall behold.
Laws underlie,
Order the all they maintain.
Need and supply
Bring one another; our bane
Boots to the general gain.
Eternity's offspring and germ are we all now.
Thoughts have their true
Roots in our race's first morning; they fall now,
Query and clue,
Freighted with seed
Into eternity's soil;
Joy be your meed,
That your brief life's fleeting toil
Fruit for eternity bears.
Join in the joy of all life, every being,
Brief bloom of its spring!
Honor th' eternal, our human lot freeing
From fetters that cling!
Adding your mite,
With the eternal unite!
Though you decay,
Breathe as a moment you may,
Air of eternity's day!
Who art
Thou
, whom a thousand names trace
Through all times that are gone and each tongue?
Thou wert infinite yearning's embrace,
Thou wert hope when the yoke heavy hung,
Thou wert darkening death-terror's guest,
Thou wert sun that with life-gladness blessed.
Still Thine image we changefully fashion,
And each form we would call revelation;
Each man holds his for true with deep passion,-
Till it crumbles in poignant negation.
Who Thou art, none can tell.
But I know Thou dost dwell
As the limitless search in my soul-it is Thou!-
After justice and light,
After victory's right
For the new that's revealed, it is Thou, it is Thou!
Every law that we see
Or believe there may be,
Though we never can knowledge attain, it is Thou!-
As my armor and aid
Round my life they are laid,
And with joy I avow, it is Thou, it is Thou!
Since we never Thine essence can know,
We have thought mediators of Thee;-
But the ages their impotence show,
We stand still, while no way we can see.
If in sickness for succor we thirst,
Is there balm in the dreams that have burst?
Stars of hope and of longing eternal,
That we saw o'er life's sorrows arisen,
Shall they sink in death's terrors nocturnal,
Only turn into worms in our prison?
SOLO
He that liveth in me,
Needeth no one to be
Mediator; I own Him indeed: it is Thou!
Is eternal hope prized
As from Him; is baptized
By His spirit my own,-is it Thou, is it Thou -:
Shall not I, who am dust,
His eternity trust?
I take humbly my law; for I know, it is Thou!
Was I worth Thy word: Live!
Let Thy life power give,
When Thou wilt, as Thou wilt,-it is Thou, it is Thou!
Scheme | ABBCDDCEEFXXFBBGHHGIIJKKJLLBMMB ANONOXPIPP QBQBRSRSS TUTUAMAMM VWVWXXDXX NNNNHHSSS XVYZYZ1 1 CCCC 2 2 VHHVBBVOOV 3 B3 B4 4 FCFC 3 BBV5 5 VTTVXXV |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1 1111 111 110011010 1101 1101 010101010 1100 0100 100101010 1111 0111 110111110 1111 1111 111100110 1111 1101 1111110 1101 1101 010111010 1101 1111 101111010 1111 1101 111111011 1101 1101 11101111 1 1001110010 11111 11011110 01011 1011 11001 1011 111111 1101001 10111110110 1111 10111110110 01111 1001 1011101 1011 1111101 1011001 10011010010 1001 11111110010 1101 101 1001101 1001 11010101 1101001 11011111 1111 101010110111 1001 111 0111 1111 1111101 1101001 100111110010 11111 10110101010110 11011 1011 100101 1101 1101011 1111 11 1 101011 111111011 11100101 111101101 11100111 11111111 11101110 011111010 1111111110 1110010010 111111 111111 101001011111 101001 1011 101101111111 1001111 101111 111011001111 111001 111111 011101111111 111011011 11110011 101011001 111111111 101011011 111001111 1110110010 11110110010 1110110010 10101101010 1 11101 11111 10011101111 101011 111101 111011111111 111111 101001 111011111111 111111 111101 111111111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 3,519 |
Words | 672 |
Sentences | 47 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 31, 10, 9, 9, 9, 9, 12, 12, 10, 13 |
Lines Amount | 124 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 280 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 66 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 3:26 min read
- 132 Views
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"Psalms" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4391/psalms>.
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