Analysis of There Is a River We All Must Cross
Henry Clay Work 1832 (Middletown, Connecticut) – 1884 (Hartford, Connecticut)
There is a river we all must cross,
Thousands will pass it tomorrow;
Some will go down to its waters with joy,
Others with anguish and sorrow.
Some will be welcom'd by angel bands,
Coming from over the river;
Others be borne by the current adown,
Where there is none to deliver.
These shall land safely in Eden's bow'rs,
Wearing the white robes of pardon;
Those shall be cast on a desolate shore,
Far from the gates of the garden.
These shall have voices to join the song
Ever from Eden ascending;
Those shall unite in the wailings of woe
Woe, that hath never an ending.
Over the river we all must cross,
Jesus may call us tomorrow;
Shall we go down to its waters with joy?
Shall we with anguish and sorrow?
Scheme | ABCB XDED AEXE XFBF ABCB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 110101111 1011101 1111111011 10110010 111101101 10110010 101110101 11111010 11110011 10011110 1111101001 11011010 111101101 10110010 11100111 11110110 100101111 1011101 1111111011 11110010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 696 |
Words | 135 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 111 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 41 sec read
- 68 Views
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"There Is a River We All Must Cross" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17305/there-is-a-river-we-all-must-cross>.
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