Analysis of Upon A Snail
John Bunyan 1628 (Elstow, Bedfordshire) – 1688 (London)
She goes but softly, but she goeth sure,
She stumbles not, as stronger creatures do.
Her journey's shorter, so she may endure
Better than they which do much farther go.
She makes no noise, but stilly seizeth on
The flower or herb appointed for her food,
The which she quietly doth feed upon
While others range and glare, but find no good.
And though she doth but very softly go,
However, 'tis not fast nor slow, but sure;
And certainly they that do travel so,
The prize they do aim at they do procure.
Although they seem not much to stir, less go,
For Christ that hunger, or from wrath that flee,
Yet what they seek for quickly they come to,
Though it doth seem the farthest off to be.
One act of faith doth bring them to that flower
They so long for, that they may eat and live,
Which, to attain, is not in others power,
Though for it a king's ransom they would give.
Then let none faint, nor be at all dismayed
That life by Christ do seek, they shall not fail
To have it; let them nothing be afraid;
The herb and flower are eaten by the snail.
Scheme | ABACDXDXCACA CEBEFXFXGHGH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111101111 1101110101 011011101 1011111101 11111111 01011010101 0111001101 1101011111 0111110101 101111111 0100111101 0111111101 111111111 1111011111 1111110111 1111010111 11111111110 1111111101 11011101010 1110110111 1111111101 1111111111 1111110101 01010110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,041 |
Words | 206 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 12 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 404 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 102 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 123 Views
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