Analysis of Preparation
Effie Waller Smith 1879 (Pike County) – 1960
"I have no time for those things now," we say;
"But in the future just a little way,
No longer by this ceaseless toil oppressed,
I shall have leisure then for thought and rest.
When I the debts upon my land have paid,
Or on foundations firm my business laid,
I shall take time for discourse long and sweet
With those beloved who round my hearthstone meet;
I shall take time on mornings still and cool
To seek the freshness dim of wood and pool,
Where, calmed and hallowed by great Nature's peace,
My life from its hot cares shall find release;
I shall take time to think on destiny,
Of what I was and am and yet shall be,
Till in the hush my soul may nearer prove
To that great Soul in whom we live and move.
All this I shall do sometime but not now—
The press of business cares will not allow."
And thus our life glides on year after year;
The promised leisure never comes more near.
Perhaps the aim on which we placed our mind
Is high, and its attainment slow to find;
Or if we reach the mark that we have set,
We still would seek another, farther yet.
Thus all our youth, our strength, our time go past
Till death upon the threshold stands at last,
And back unto our Maker we must give
The life we spent preparing well to live.
Scheme | AABB CCDDEEFFGGHH IIJJ KKLL MMXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111111 1001010101 1101110101 1111011101 1101011111 1101011101 1111110101 110111111 1111110101 1101011101 1101011101 1111111101 1111111100 1111010111 1001111101 1111011101 111111111 0111011101 01101111101 0101010111 01011111101 1101010111 1111011111 1111010101 1110110110111 110101111 01101010111 0111010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,225 |
Words | 244 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 12, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 195 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
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"Preparation" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54109/preparation>.
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