Analysis of Emptiness of Work
Richard Newton Sherrer 1951 (Easton)
I hated all of my toil,
To toil under the sun;
For as I till the soil,
Man must work till it is done.
I hate life for my labor,
Vexation of my spirit;
Finding nothing in favor,
Rewarded for my merit.
Who knows whether I am wise,
Or just being as a fool;
Vanity is a disguise,
To follow the golden rule.
So I turn and gave my heart,
To my labor in despair;
So I am able to thwart,
Justifying what is fair.
Wisdom and knowledge gives skill,
Leaving it all to enjoy;
As vanity does fulfill,
Until evil will destroy.
What has a man from labor,
Which he works beneath the sun;
Seek to impress the neighbor,
Once the tasking has been done.
For your days full of sorrow,
And work is a vexation;
Unrested for tomorrow,
And needing a vacation.
Nothing better for a man,
Than that he should eat and drink;
Knowing that God has a plan,
Giving you the time to think.
You can enjoy as you eat,
But give grace to honor God;
Enabled to rest your feet,
Paying homage as you laud.
To the sinner God gives travail,
Vanity from his spirit;
Suffering and to bewail,
No delight from his merit.
Copyright ©2022 Richard Newton Sherrer
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF XGXG HIHI CBCB JBJB KLKL MXMX XDAD C |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101111 111001 111101 1111111 1111110 11110 1010010 0101110 1110111 1110101 1001001 1100101 1110111 1110001 1111011 100111 1001011 1011101 1100101 0110101 1101110 1110101 1101010 1010111 1111110 01101 1101 0100010 1010101 1111101 1011101 1010111 1101111 1111101 0101111 1010111 10101101 1001110 100011 1011110 10101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,122 |
Words | 264 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1 |
Lines Amount | 41 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 78 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 19 |
About this poem
The Vanity of Toil Ecclesiastes 2:17-26
Font size:
Written on July 19, 2022
Submitted by richards.77936 on July 18, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:19 min read
- 5 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Emptiness of Work" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/132274/emptiness-of-work>.
Discuss this Richard Newton Sherrer 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