Analysis of The Storm

Henry Vaughan 1621 (Brecknockshire) – 1695



I SEE the use : and know my blood
       Is not a sea,
But a shallow, bounded flood,
       Though red as he ;
Yet have I flows, as strong as his,
       And boiling streams that rave
With the same curling force, and hiss,
       As doth the mountain'd wave.
2.

But when his waters billow thus,
       Dark storms, and wind
Incite them to that fierce discuss,
       Else not inclin'd,
Thus the enlarg'd, enragèd air
       Uncalms these to a flood ;
But still the weather that's most fair
       Breeds tempests in my blood.
3.

Lord, then round me with weeping clouds,
       And let my mind
In quick blasts sigh beneath those shrouds,
       A spirit-wind ;
So shall that storm purge this recluse
       Which sinful ease made foul,
And wind and water to Thy use
       Both wash and wing my soul.


Scheme ABABXCXCD EFEFGAGAD HFHFIXIX
Poetic Form
Metre 11010111 1101 1010101 1111 11111111 010111 10110101 11011 1 11110101 1101 01111101 1101 1001111 11101 11010111 11011 1 11111101 0111 01110111 0101 11111101 110111 01010111 110111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 804
Words 136
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 9, 9, 8
Lines Amount 26
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 182
Words per stanza (avg) 46
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

42 sec read
118

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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