Analysis of A Builder's Lesson
John Boyle O'Reilly 1844 (Dowth) – 1890 (Boston)
'HOW shall I a habit break?'
As you did that habit make.
As you gathered, you must lose;
As you yielded, now refuse.
Thread by thread the strands we twist
Till they bind us neck and wrist;
Thread by thread the patient hand
Must untwine ere free we stand.
As we builded, stone by stone,
We must toil unhelped, alone,
Till the wall is overthrown.
But remember, as we try,
Lighter every test goes by;
Wading in, the stream grows deep
Toward the center's downward sweep;
Backward turn, each step ashore
Shallower is than that before.
Ah, the precious years we waste
Leveling what we raised in haste;
Doing what must be undone
Ere content or love be won!
First across the gulf we cast
Kite-borne threads, till lines are passed,
And habit builds the bridge at last!
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEE FFGGHH IIJJKKK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110101 1111101 1110111 1110101 1110111 1111101 1110101 111111 111111 111101 101101 1010111 10100111 1000111 01010101 1011101 10011101 1010111 10011101 1011101 1101111 1010111 1111111 01010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 760 |
Words | 141 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 11, 6, 7 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 197 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 148 Views
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"A Builder's Lesson" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21965/a-builder%27s-lesson>.
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