Analysis of Affliction (III)

George Herbert 1593 (Montgomery) – 1633 (Bemerton)



My heart did heave, and there came forth, 'O God'!
By that I knew that thou wast in the grief,
To guide and govern it to my relief,
Making a sceptre of the rod:
Hadst thou not had thy part,
Sure the unruly sigh had broke my heart.

But since thy breath gave me both life and shape,
Thou know'st my tallies; and when there's assigned
So much breath to a sigh, what's then behind?
Or if some years with it escape,
The sigh then only is
A gale to bring me sooner to my bliss.

Thy life on earth was grief, and thou art still
Constant unto it, making it to be
A point of honour now to grieve in me,
And in thy members suffer ill.
They who lament one cross,
Thou dying daily, praise thee to thy loss.


Scheme ABBACC DEEDXX FGGFHH
Poetic Form
Metre 1111011111 1111111001 1101011101 10010101 111111 1001011111 1111111101 11111001101 1111011101 11111101 011101 0111110111 1111110111 1010110111 011111101 00110101 110111 1101011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 695
Words 143
Sentences 7
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 176
Words per stanza (avg) 47
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 14, 2023

43 sec read
89

George Herbert

The Very Reverend Honourable George Herbert was an Anglican priest. more…

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