Analysis of Fourth Sunday In Advent
John Keble 1792 (Fairford) – 1866 (Bournemouth)
Of the bright things in earth and air
How little can the heart embrace!
Soft shades and gleaming lights are there -
I know it well, but cannot trace.
Mine eye unworthy seems to read
One page of Nature's beauteous book;
It lies before me, fair outspread -
I only cast a wishful look.
I cannot paint to Memory's eye
The scene, the glance, I dearest love -
Unchanged themselves, in me they die,
Or faint or false their shadows prove.
In vain, with dull and tuneless ear,
I linger by soft Music's cell,
And in my heart of hearts would hear
What to her own she deigns to tell.
'Tis misty all, both sight and sound -
I only know 'tis fair and sweet -
'Tis wandering on enchanted ground
With dizzy brow and tottering feet.
But patience! there may come a time
When these dull ears shall scan aright
Strains that outring Earth's drowsy chime,
As Heaven outshines the taper's light.
These eyes, that dazzled now and weak,
At glancing motes in sunshine wink.
Shall see the Kings full glory break,
Nor from the blissful vision shrink:
In fearless love and hope uncloyed
For ever on that ocean bright
Empowered to gaze; and undestroyed,
Deeper and deeper plunge in light.
Though scarcely now their laggard glance
Reach to an arrow's flight, that day
They shall behold, and not in trance,
The region "very far away."
If Memory sometimes at our spell
Refuse to speak, or speak amiss,
We shall not need her where we dwell
Ever in sight of all our bliss.
Meanwhile, if over sea or sky
Some tender lights unnoticed fleet,
Or on loved features dawn and die,
Unread, to us, their lesson sweet;
Yet are there saddening sights around,
Which Heaven, in mercy, spares us too,
And we see far in holy ground,
If duly purged our mental view.
The distant landscape draws not nigh
For all our gazing; but the soul,
That upward looks, may still descry
Nearer, each day, the brightening goal.
And thou, too curious ear, that fain
Wouldst thread the maze of Harmony,
Content thee with one simple strain,
The lowlier, sure, the worthier thee;
Till thou art duly trained, and taught
The concord sweet of Love divine:
Then, with that inward Music fraught,
For ever rise, and sing, and shine.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EXEX FGFG HIHI JCJK XLXL CKCK MNMN GOGO EIEI HPHP EQAQ RSRS TUTU |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (93%) Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 10110101 11010101 11010111 11111101 11010111 1111011 1101111 11010101 1101111 01011101 01010111 1111111 0111011 11011101 00111111 11011111 11011101 11011101 110010101 110101001 11011101 1111111 1111101 1101011 11110101 1101011 11011101 11010101 0101011 11011101 0101101 10010101 11011101 11110111 11010101 01010101 1100011101 01111101 11110111 100111101 1110111 11010101 11110101 01111101 111100101 110010111 01110101 110110101 0101111 111010101 1101111 101101001 011100111 11011100 10111101 01101001 11110101 0111101 11110101 11010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,165 |
Words | 393 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 15 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 112 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:59 min read
- 49 Views
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"Fourth Sunday In Advent" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23579/fourth-sunday-in-advent>.
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