Analysis of On Teaching
Kahlil Gibran 1883 (Bsharri, Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate) – 1931 ( New York City)
Then said a teacher, Speak to us of Teaching.
And he said:
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.
The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.
The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.
And even as each one of you stands alone in God’s knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.
Scheme | AXX X X A X X XX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010111110 011 11101111111010110100101110 010110011010011100111110110111011 1110111111110011110110111011111 00100111111010111110111010 00101111101011011111011011010101011101 0111100101101110101101011100111 1010111111110101 010111111010110111111101011011001010101 |
Characters | 1,066 |
Words | 204 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2 |
Lines Amount | 10 |
Letters per line (avg) | 81 |
Words per line (avg) | 20 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 116 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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"On Teaching" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54015/on-teaching>.
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