Analysis of Work
Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)
WHEN I am busying about,
Sewing on buttons, tapes, and strings,
Hanging the week's wet washing out
Or ironing the children's things,
Sweeping and dusting, cleaning grates,
Scrubbing the dresser or the floors,
Washing the greasy dinner plates,
Scouring the brasses on the doors--
I wonder what it's all about,
And when did people first begin
To keep the dirt and wornness out
And keep the wholesome comfort in:
How long it is since women bore
This round of wash and make and mend,
And what God makes us do it for
And whether it will ever end!
When God began to do His work
He made a new thing every day--
Even now He is not one to shirk,
But makes things, always some new way
He made the earth, and sky, and sun,
The creatures of the sea and wood,
And when his first week's work was done
He saw that it was very good.
But He--for all He worked so fast
To finish air, and wave, and shore,
Knew that this work of His would last
For ever and for evermore.
On Saturday night He was content,
He knew that Monday would not bring
Need for another firmament,
Another set of everything.
But though my work is easier far
Than making sky and sea and sun,
It's harder than God's labours are,
Because my work is never done.
I sweep and churn, save and contrive,
I bake and brew, I don't complain,
But every Monday morning I've
Last Monday's work to do again.
I'm good at work--I work away;
Always the same my work must go;
The flowers grow different every day,
That's why I like to see them grow.
If, up in Heaven, God understood
He'd let me for my Paradise
Make all things new and very good
And never make the same thing twice!
Scheme | ABABCDCD AEAEFGFG HIHIJKJK LFLFXMAM NJNJOXOX IPIPKQKQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111101 10110101 10011101 11000101 10010101 10010101 10010101 100010101 11011101 01110101 1101011 01010100 11111101 11110101 01111111 01011101 11011111 110111001 101111111 1111111 11010101 01010101 01111111 11111101 11111111 11010101 11111111 1100110 110011110 11110111 110101 0101110 111111001 11010101 1101111 01111101 11011001 11011101 110010101 11011101 11111101 1011111 01011001001 11111111 11010101 1111110 11110101 01010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,575 |
Words | 311 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 207 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 52 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 21, 2023
- 1:36 min read
- 124 Views
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"Work" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/9061/work>.
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