Analysis of Hymn For The House Of Worship At Georgetown, Erected In Memory Of A Mother
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
Thou dwellest not, O Lord of all
In temples which thy children raise;
Our work to thine is mean and small,
And brief to thy eternal days.
Forgive the weakness and the pride,
If marred thereby our gift may be,
For love, at least, has sanctified
The altar that we rear to thee.
The heart and not the hand has wrought
From sunken base to tower above
The image of a tender thought,
The memory of a deathless love!
And though should never sound of speech
Or organ echo from its wall,
Its stones would pious lessons teach,
Its shade in benedictions fall.
Here should the dove of peace be found,
And blessings and not curses given;
Nor strife profane, nor hatred wound,
The mingled loves of earth and heaven.
Thou, who didst soothe with dying breath
The dear one watching by Thy cross,
Forgetful of the pains of death
In sorrow for her mighty loss,
In memory of that tender claim,
O Mother-born, the offering take,
And make it worthy of Thy name,
And bless it for a mother's sake!
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GAGA HIHI JKJK LMLM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1111111 01011101 101111101 01110101 01010001 111110111 111111 01011111 01010111 110111001 01010101 01001011 01110111 11010111 11110101 11011 11011111 010011010 11011101 010111010 11111101 01110111 01010111 01010101 010011101 110101001 01110111 01110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 954 |
Words | 183 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 109 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 55 sec read
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"Hymn For The House Of Worship At Georgetown, Erected In Memory Of A Mother" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22920/hymn-for-the-house-of-worship-at-georgetown%2C-erected-in-memory-of-a-mother>.
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