Analysis of The Stars
Felicia Dorothea Hemans 1793 (Liverpool, Lancashire) – 1835 (Dublin, County Dublin)
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy-work.
Psalm xix. 1.
NO cloud obscures the summer sky,
The moon in brightness walks on high,
And, set in azure, every star
Shines, like a gem of heaven, afar!
Child of the earth! oh! lift thy glance
To yon bright firmament's expanse;
The glories of its realm explore,
And gaze, and wonder, and adore!
Doth it not speak to every sense
The marvels of Omnipotence?
Seest thou not there th' Almighty name,
Inscribed in characters of flame?
Count o'er those lamps of quenchless light,
That sparkle through the shades of night;
Behold them!?can a mortal boast
To number that celestial host?
Mark well each little star, whose rays
In distant splendor meet thy gaze;
Each is a world by Him sustained,
Who from eternity hath reigned.
Each, shining not for earth alone,
Hath suns and planets of its own,
And beings, whose existence springs
From Him, th' all-powerful King of kings.
Haply, those glorious beings know
Nor stain of guilt, nor tear of woe;
But raising still th' adoring voice,
For ever in their God rejoice.
What then art thou, oh! child of clay!
Amid creation's grandeur, say?
?E'en as an insect on the breeze,
E'en as a dew-drop, lost in seas!
Yet fear thou not!?the sovereign hand,
Which spread the ocean and the land,
And hung the rolling spheres in air,
Hath, e'en for thee, a Father's care!
Be thou at peace!?th' all-seeing eye,
Pervading earth, and air, and sky,
The searching glance which none may flee,
Is still, in mercy, turned on thee.
Scheme | X A BBCC AADD AAEE FFGG AAHH IIAA JJAA XAAA KKLL BBMM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010010101100111101 11 11010101 01010111 010101001 110111001 11011111 111101 01011101 01010001 111111001 01010100 1111110101 01010011 11011111 11010111 0110101 11010101 11110111 01010111 11011101 11010011 11011101 11010111 01010101 11111100111 11100101 11111111 1101110101 11001101 11111111 011011 11111101 111011101 1111101 11010001 01010101 111110101 11111101 01010101 01011111 11010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,517 |
Words | 273 |
Sentences | 24 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 98 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 28, 2023
- 1:24 min read
- 110 Views
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"The Stars" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13620/the-stars>.
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