Analysis of St. John Baptist's Day
John Keble 1792 (Fairford) – 1866 (Bournemouth)
Twice in her season of decay
The fallen Church hath felt Elijah's eye
Dart from the wild its piercing ray:
Not keener burns, in the chill morning sky,
The herald star,
Whose torch afar
Shadows and boding night-birds fly.
Methinks we need him once again,
That favoured seer--but where shall he be found?
By Cherith's side we seek in vain,
In vain on Carmel's green and lonely mound:
Angels no more
From Sinai soar,
On his celestial errands bound.
But wafted to her glorious place
By harmless fire, among the ethereal thrones,
His spirit with a dear embrace
Thee the loved harbinger of Jesus owns,
Well-pleased to view
Her likeness true,
And trace, in thine, her own deep tones.
Deathless himself, he joys with thee
To commune how a faithful martyr dies,
And in the blest could envy be,
He would behold thy wounds with envious eyes,
Star of our morn,
Who yet unborn
Didst guide our hope, where Christ should rise.
Now resting from your jealous care
For sinners, such as Eden cannot know,
Ye pour for us your mingled prayer,
No anxious fear to damp Affection's glow,
Love draws a cloud
From you to shroud
Rebellion's mystery here below.
And since we see, and not afar,
The twilight of the great and dreadful day,
Why linger, till Elijah's car
Stoop from the clouds? Why sheep ye? Rise and pray,
Ye heralds sealed
In camp or field
Your Saviour's banner to display.
Where is the lore the Baptist taught,
The soul unswerving and the fearless tongue?
The much-enduring wisdom, sought
By lonely prayer the haunted rocks among?
Who counts it gain
His light should wane,
So the whole world to Jesus throng?
Thou Spirit, who the Church didst lend
Her eagle wings, to shelter in the wild,
We pray Thee, ere the Judge descend,
With flames like these, all bright and undefiled,
Her watch-fires light,
To guide aright
Our weary souls by earth beguiled.
So glorious let thy Pastors shine,
That by their speaking lives the world may learn
First filial duty, then divine,
That sons to parents, all to Thee may turn;
And ready prove
In fires of love,
At sight of Thee, for aye to burn.
Scheme | ABABCCB XDEDFFD GGGHIIH JKJKLLK MNMNOON CACAPPA QRQREEX STSDXDT UVUVXXV |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10010101 01011111 11011101 1101001101 0101 1101 101111 1111101 111111111 1111101 011110101 1011 111 11010101 110101001 1101001001001 11010101 1011001101 1111 0101 01010111 1011111 1101010101 00011101 11011111001 11101 1111 111011111 11011101 1101110101 11111101 11011111 1101 1111 010100101 01110101 011010101 110111 1101111101 1101 0111 1110101 11010101 0101000101 01010101 1101010101 1111 1111 10111101 11010111 0101110001 11110101 11111101 01101 111 101011101 110011101 1111010111 110010101 1111011111 0101 01011 11111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,261 |
Words | 371 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 63 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 180 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:53 min read
- 88 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"St. John Baptist's Day" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23614/st.-john-baptist%27s-day>.
Discuss this John Keble poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In