Analysis of Tuesday In Easter Week

John Keble 1792 (Fairford) – 1866 (Bournemouth)



Thou first-born of the year's delight,
  Pride of the dewy glade,
In vernal green and virgin white,
  Thy vestal robes, arrayed:

'Tis not because thy drooping form
  Sinks graceful on its nest,
When chilly shades from gathering storm
  Affright thy tender breast;

Nor for yon river islet wild
  Beneath the willow spray,
Where, like the ringlets of a child,
  Thou weav'st thy circle gay;

'Tis not for these I love thee dear -
  Thy shy averted smiles
To Fancy bode a joyous year,
  One of Life's fairy isles.

They twinkle to the wintry moon,
  And cheer th' ungenial day,
And tell us, all will glisten soon
  As green and bright as they.

Is there a heart that loves the spring,
  Their witness can refuse?
Yet mortals doubt, when angels bring
  From Heaven their Easter news:

When holy maids and matrons speak
  Of Christ's forsaken bed,
And voices, that forbid to seek
  The hiving 'mid the dead,

And when they say, "Turn, wandering heart,
  Thy Lord is ris'n indeed,
Let Pleasure go, put Care apart,
  And to His presence speed;"

We smile in scorn:  and yet we know
  They early sought the tomb,
Their hearts, that now so freshly glow,
  Lost in desponding gloom.

They who have sought, nor hope to find,
  Wear not so bright a glance:
They, who have won their earthly mind,
  Lees reverently advance.

But where in gentle spirits, fear
  And joy so duly meet,
These sure have seen the angels near,
  And kissed the Saviour's feet.

Nor let the Pastor's thankful eye
  Their faltering tale disdain,
As on their lowly couch they lie,
  Prisoners of want and pain.

O guide us, when our faithless hearts
  From Thee would start aloof,
Where Patience her sweet skill imparts
  Beneath some cottage roof:

Revive our dying fires, to burn
  High as her anthems soar,
And of our scholars let us learn
  Our own forgotten lore.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IFIF JKJK LMLM NONO PQPQ RSRS GTGT UVUV WXWX YZYZ
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11110101 110101 01010101 110101 11011101 110111 110111001 11101 11110101 01011 1101101 111101 11111111 110101 11010101 111101 11010101 011111 01111101 110111 11011101 110101 11011101 1101101 11010101 110101 01010111 01101 011111001 111101 11011101 011101 11010111 110101 11111101 1011 11111111 111101 11111101 1100001 11010101 011101 11110101 01011 11010101 1100101 11110111 1001101 11111011 111101 11001101 011101 0110101011 110101 011010111 1010101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,771
Words 319
Sentences 9
Stanzas 14
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 56
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 98
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:37 min read
89

John Keble

John Keble was an English churchman and poet, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford was named after him. more…

All John Keble poems | John Keble Books

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