Analysis of And Do They So?
Henry Vaughan 1621 (Brecknockshire) – 1695
'Etenim res creatoe exerto capite observantes
expectant revelationem Filiorum Dei.'
'For created things, watching with head erect,
await the revelation of the Sons of God.'
And do they so? Have they a sense
Of aught but influence?
Can they their heads lift, and expect,
And groan too? Why the elect
Can do no more; my volumes said
They were all dull, and dead;
They judged them senseless, and their state
Wholly inanimate.
Go, go, seal up thy looks,
And burn thy books.
I would I were a stone, or tree,
Or flower, by pedigree,
Or some poor highway herb, or spring
To flow, or bird to sing!
Then should I, tied to one sure state,
All day expect my date;
But I am sadly loose, and stray
A giddy blast each way;
O let me not thus range,
Thou canst not change!
Sometimes I sit with Thee and tarry
An hour or so, then vary;
Thy other creatures in this scene
Thee only aim and mean;
Some rise to seek Thee, and with heads
Erect, peep from their beds;
Others, whose birth is in the tomb,
And cannot quit the womb,
Sigh there, and groan for Thee,
Their liberty.
O let me not do less! Shall they
Watch, while I sleep or play?
Shall I thy mercies still abuse
With fancies, friends, or news?
O brook it not! Thy blood is mine,
And my soul should be Thine;
O brook it not! why wilt Thou stop,
After whole showers, one drop?
Sure Thou wilt joy to see
Thy sheep with Thee.
Scheme | AB BB AABBBBBBAA CCDDBBEEFF CCGGAAHHCB EEAAIIJJAC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111 010111 10101101101 01001010111 01111101 111100 11111001 0111001 11111101 101101 11110011 100100 111111 0111 11100111 1101100 1111111 111111 11111111 110111 11110101 010111 111111 1111 011111010 11011110 11010011 110101 11111011 011111 10111001 010101 110111 1100 11111111 111111 11110101 110111 11111111 011111 11111111 1011011 111111 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,327 |
Words | 265 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 10, 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 173 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 127 Views
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"And Do They So?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18413/and-do-they-so%3F>.
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