Analysis of The Empty Bowl
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
I held the golden vessel of my soul
And prayed that God would fill it from on high.
Day after day the importuning cry
Grew stronger-grew, a heaven-accusing dole
Because no sacred waters laved my bowl.
'So full the fountain, Lord, wouldst Thou deny
The little needed for a soul's supply?
I ask but this small portion of Thy whole.'
Then from the vast invisible Somewhere,
A voice, as one love-authorized by Him,
Spake, and the tumult of my heart was stilled.
'Who wants the waters must the bowl prepare;
Pour out the self, that chokes it to the brim,
But emptied vessels, from the Source are filled.'
Scheme | ABBAABBACDECDE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101010111 0111111111 1101011 11010100101 0111010111 1101011101 0101010101 1111110111 110101001 011111011 1001011111 1101010101 1101111101 1101010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 594 |
Words | 112 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 467 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 108 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 141 Views
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"The Empty Bowl" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10839/the-empty-bowl>.
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