Analysis of The Temper (II)

George Herbert 1593 (Montgomery) – 1633 (Bemerton)



It cannot be.  Where is that mighty joy,
Which just now took up all my heart?
Lord, if thou must needs use thy dart,
Save that, and me; or sin for both destroy.

The grosser world stand to thy word and art;
But thy diviner world of grace
Thou suddenly dost raise and race,
And ev'ry day a new Creator art

O fix thy chair of grace, that all my powers
May also fix their reverence:
For when thou dost depart from hence,
They grow unruly, and sit in thy bowers.

Scatter, or bind them all to bend to thee:
Though elements change, and heaven move,
Let not thy higher Court remove,
But keep a standing Majesty in me.


Scheme ABBA BCCB DXXD EFFE
Poetic Form Quatrain  (75%)
Metre 1101111101 11111111 11111111 1101111101 0101111101 111111 11001101 011010101 11111111110 11011100 11110111 11010010110 1011111111 110010101 11110101 1101010001
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 612
Words 121
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 117
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 16, 2023

36 sec read
114

George Herbert

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

All George Herbert poems | George Herbert Books

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