Analysis of The Light That Is Felt

John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)



A tender child of summers three,
Seeking her little bed at night,
Paused on the dark stair timidly.
'Oh, mother! Take my hand,' said she,
'And then the dark will all be light.'

We older children grope our way
From dark behind to dark before;
And only when our hands we lay,
Dear Lord, in Thine, the night is day,
And there is darkness nevermore.

Reach downward to the sunless days
Wherein our guides are blind as we,
And faith is small and hope delays;
Take Thou the hands of prayer we raise,
And let us feel the light of Thee!


Scheme ABAAB CDCCD EAEEA
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 01011101 10010111 11011100 11011111 01011111 110101101 11011101 010110111 11010111 0111010 1101011 011011111 01110101 11011111 01110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 521
Words 105
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 135
Words per stanza (avg) 34
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
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John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. more…

All John Greenleaf Whittier poems | John Greenleaf Whittier Books

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