Analysis of Truth
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper 1825 – 1911
A rock, for ages, stern and high,
Stood frowning 'gainst the earth and sky,
And never bowed his haughty crest
When angry storms around him prest.
Morn, springing from the arms of night,
Had often bathed his brow with light.
And kissed the shadows from his face
With tender love and gentle grace.
Day, pausing at the gates of rest,
Smiled on him from the distant West,
And from her throne the dark-browed Night
Threw round his path her softest light.
And yet he stood unmoved and proud,
Nor love, nor wrath, his spirit bowed;
He bared his brow to every blast
And scorned the tempest as it passed.
One day a tiny, humble seed --
The keenest eye would hardly heed --
Fell trembling at that stern rock's base,
And found a lowly hiding-place.
A ray of light, and drop of dew,
Came with a message, kind and true;
They told her of the world so bright,
Its love, its joy, and rosy light,
And lured her from her hiding-place,
To gaze upon earth's glorious face.
So, peeping timid from the ground,
She clasped the ancient rock around,
And climbing up with childish grace,
She held him with a close embrace;
Her clinging was a thing of dread;
Where'er she touched a fissure spread,
And he who'd breasted many a storm
Stood frowning there, a mangled form;
A Truth, dropped in the silent earth,
May seem a thing of little worth,
Till, spreading round some mighty wrong,
It saps its pillars proud and strong,
And o'er the fallen ruin weaves
The brightest blooms and fairest leaves.
Scheme | AABBCCDD BBCCEEFF GGDDHHCCDD IIDDJJKKLLMMNN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 01110101 11010101 01011101 11010111 11010111 11011111 0101111 11010101 11010111 11110101 01010111 11110101 01110101 11111101 111111001 01010111 11010101 01011101 110011111 01010101 01110111 11010101 11010111 11110101 01010101 110111001 11010101 11010101 01011101 11110101 01010111 10110101 011101001 11010101 01100101 11011101 11011101 11110101 010010101 01010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,475 |
Words | 269 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 10, 14 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 285 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 67 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 1:22 min read
- 119 Views
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"Truth" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13770/truth>.
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