Analysis of The Builder
Duncan Campbell Scott 1862 (Ottawa) – 1947
WHEN the deep cunning architect
Had the great minster planned,
They worked in faith for twice two hundred years
And reared the building grand;
War came and famine and they did not falter,
But held his line,
And filled the space divine
With carvings meet for the soul's eye;
And not alone the chantry and thereby
The snowy altar,
But in every part
They carved the minster after his own heart,
And made the humblest places fair,
Even the dimmest cloister-way and stair,
With vineyard tendrils,
With ocean-seeming shells,
With filmy weeds from sea,
With bell-flowers delicate and bells,
All done minute with excellent tracery.
Come, O my soul,
And let me build thee like the minster fair,
Deep based and large as air,
And full of hidden graces wrought
In faith and infinite thought,
Till all thy dimmest ways,
Shall gleam with little vines and fruits of praise,
So that one day
The consummate Architect
Who planned the souls that we are set to build,
May pause and say:
How curiously wrought is this!
The builder followed well My thought, My chart,
And worked for Me, not for the world's wild heart;
Here are the outward virtues true!
But see how all the inner parts are filled
With singular bliss:
Set it aside
I shall come here again at eventide.
Scheme | ABCBDEEFFDGGHHCIJIDKHHLLMMNAONPGGQOPRA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011010 101101 1101111101 010101 11010011110 1111 010101 11011011 010101011 01010 101001 1101010111 010100101 100110101 1101 110101 11111 111010001 111011001 1111 0111110101 110111 01110101 0101001 11111 1111010111 1111 010010 1101111111 1101 11000111 0101011111 0111110111 11010101 1111010111 11001 1101 11110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,216 |
Words | 223 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 38 |
Lines Amount | 38 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 989 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 221 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 07, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 114 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Builder" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8365/the-builder>.
Discuss this Duncan Campbell Scott poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In