Analysis of A Grain Of Sand
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper 1825 – 1911
Do you see this grain of sand
Lying loosely in my hand?
Do you know to me it brought
Just a simple loving thought?
When one gazes night by night
On the glorious stars of light,
Oh how little seems the span
Measured round the life of man.
Oh! how fleeting are his years
With their smiles and their tears;
Can it be that God does care
For such atoms as we are?
Then outspake this grain of sand
'I was fashioned by His hand
In the star lit realms of space
I was made to have a place.
'Should the ocean flood the world,
Were its mountains 'gainst me hurled
All the force they could employ
Wouldn't a single grain destroy;
And if I, a thing so light,
Have a place within His sight;
You are linked unto his throne
Cannot live nor die alone.
In the everlasting arms
Mid life's dangers and alarms
Let calm trust your spirit fill;
Know He's God, and then be still.'
Trustingly I raised my head
Hearing what the atom said;
Knowing man is greater far
Than the brightest sun or star.
Scheme | AABBCCDD XXXEAAFF GGHHCCII JJKKLLEE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111 1010011 1111111 1010101 1110111 10100111 1110101 1010111 1110111 111011 1111111 1110111 111111 1110111 0011111 1111101 1010101 0110111 1011101 10010101 0110111 1010111 1111011 1011101 000101 1110001 1111101 1110111 11111 1010101 1011101 1010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 948 |
Words | 192 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 189 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 47 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 13, 2023
- 58 sec read
- 192 Views
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