Analysis of Absolution II
Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)
UNBIND thine eyes, with thine own soul confer,
Look on the sins that made thy life unclean,
Behold how poor thy vaunted virtues were,
How weak thy faith, thy deeds how small and mean,
How far from thy high dreams thy life hath been,
How poor thy use of all thou hast received,
How little of all God's glory thou hast seen,
How misconstrued that which thou hast perceived.
Turn not thine eyes away from thine unworth,
The cup of shame drink to the bitter lees;
And when thou art lowered to the least on earth,
And in the dust makest common cause with these,
Then shall kind arms enfold thee, bringing peace,
The Earth, thy Mother, shall assuage thy pain,
Her woods and fields, Her quiet streams and seas
Shall touch thy soul, and make thee whole again.
But if thy heart holds fast one secret sin,
If one vile script thy soul shrinks to erase,
The mighty Mother cannot bring thee in
Unto the happy, holy, healing place;
But thou shalt weep in darkness, out of grace,
And miss the light of beauty undefiled;
For he who would behold Her, face to face,
Must be in spirit as a little child.
Scheme | ABABCDBD EFEFXXFX CGCGGDGX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111101 1101111101 0111110100 1111111101 1111111111 1111111101 11011110111 101111101 111101111 0111110101 01111010111 0001110111 1111011101 0111010111 0101010101 1111011101 1111111101 1111111101 0101010110 1001010101 1111010111 01011101 1111010111 1101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,092 |
Words | 205 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 283 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 68 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:01 min read
- 91 Views
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"Absolution II" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8773/absolution-ii>.
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