Analysis of Ode
John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)
I. VENGEANCE will sit above our faults ; but till
She there do sit,
We see her not, nor them. Thus blind, yet still
We lead her way ; and thus, whilst we do ill,
We suffer it.
2. Unhappy he whom youth makes not beware
Of doing ill.
Enough we labour under age, and care ;
In number, th' errors of the last place are
The greatest still.
3. Yet we, that should the ill we now begin
As soon repent,
Strange thing ! perceive not ; our faults are not seen,
But past us ; neither felt, but only in
The punishment.
4. But we know ourselves least ; mere outward shows
Our minds so store,
That our souls no more than our eyes disclose
But form and colour. Only he who knows
Himself, knows more.
Scheme | ABAAB CACXA DXXDX EFEEF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (30%) |
Metre | 110110110111 1111 1101111111 1101011111 1101 0101111101 1101 011110101 010111010111 0101 1111011101 1101 11011101111 1111011100 0100 11100111101 10111 110111110101 110110111 0111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 692 |
Words | 133 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 129 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 39 sec read
- 123 Views
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"Ode" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22560/ode>.
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