Analysis of Vanity (I)
George Herbert 1593 (Montgomery) – 1633 (Bemerton)
The fleet astronomer can bore
And thread the spheres with his quick-piercing mind:
He views theirs stations, walks from door to door,
Surveys, as if he had designed
To make a purchase there: he sees their dances,
And knoweth long before,
Both their full-eyed aspects, and secret glances.
The nimble diver with his side
Cuts through the working waves, that he may fetch
His dearly-earned pearl, which God did hide
On purpose from the ventrous wretch;
That he might save his life, and also hers,
Who with excessive pride
Her own destruction and his danger wears.
The subtle chymick can devest
And strip the creature naked, till he find
The callow principles within their nest:
There he imparts to them his mind,
Admitted to their bed-chamber, before
They appear trim and drest
To ordinary suitors at the door.
What hath not man sought out and found,
But his dear God? who yet his glorious law
Embosoms in us, mellowing the ground
With showers and frosts, with love and awe,
So that we need not say, Where's this command?
Poor man, thou searchest round
To find out death, but missest life at hand.
Scheme | ABABXAX CDCDXCX BBXBABA EXEXFEF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010011 0101111101 1111011111 01111101 11010111110 01101 1111101010 01010111 1101011111 110111111 1101011 1111110100 110101 0101001101 010111 0101010111 0101000111 11011111 0101111001 101101 110010101 11111101 11111111001 10110001 110011101 1111111101 11111 111111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,102 |
Words | 194 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 217 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 25, 2023
- 58 sec read
- 129 Views
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"Vanity (I)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15409/vanity-%28i%29>.
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