Analysis of The Shower (I)

Henry Vaughan 1621 (Brecknockshire) – 1695



'TWAS so ; I saw thy birth. That drowsy lake
From her faint bosom breath'd thee, the disease
Of her sick waters and infectious ease.
But now at even,
Too gross for heaven,
Thou fall'st in tears, and weep'st for thy mistake.

Ah ! it is so with me : oft have I press'd
Heaven with a lazy breath ; but fruitless this
Pierc'd not ; love only can with quick access
Unlock the way,
When all else stray,
The smoke and exhalations of the breast.

Yet, if as thou dost melt, and with thy train
Of drops make soft the Earth, my eyes could weep
O'er my hard heart, that's bound up and asleep ;
Perhaps at last,
Some such showers past,
My God would give a sunshine after rain.


Scheme ABBXXA CXXDDC EFFGGE
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111101 1011011001 1011000101 11110 11110 111010111101 1111111111 10101011101 111101111 0101 1111 0101101 1111110111 1111011111 10111111001 0111 11101 111101101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 660
Words 130
Sentences 10
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 167
Words per stanza (avg) 44
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 26, 2023

41 sec read
136

Henry Vaughan

Henry Vaughan was a Welsh author, physician and metaphysical poet. Vaughan and his twin brother, the hermetic philosopher and alchemist Thomas Vaughan, were the sons of Thomas Vaughan and his wife Denise of 'Trenewydd', Newton, in Brecknockshire, Wales. Their grandfather, William, was the owner of Tretower Court. Vaughan spent most of his life in the village of Llansantffraed, near Brecon, where he is also buried. more…

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