Analysis of The Rich Man And Lazarus
John Newton 1725 (Wapping, London) – 1807 (London)
A Worldling spent each day
In luxury and state;
While a believer lay,
A beggar at his gate:
Think not the Lord's appointments strange,
Death made a great and lasting change.
Death brought the saint release
From want, disease, and scorn;
And to the land of peace,
His soul, by angels borne,
In Abraham's bosom safely placed,
Enjoys an everlasting feast.
The rich man also died,
And in a moment fell
From all his pomp and pride
Into the flames of hell:
The beggar's bliss from far beheld,
His soul with double anguish filled.
O Abram send, he cries,
But his request was vain
The beggar from the skies
To mitigate my pain!
One drop of water I entreat,
To soothe my tongue's tormenting heat.
Let all who worldly pelf,
And worldly spirits have,
Observe, each for himself,
The answer Abram gave:
Remember, thou wast filled with good,
While the poor beggar pined for food.
Neglected at thy door
With tears he begged his bread;
But now, he weeps no more,
His griefs and pains are fled:
His joys eternally will flow,
While thine expire in endless woe.
Lord, make us truly wise,
To choose thy peoples' lot;
And earthly joys despise,
Which soon will be forgot:
The greatest evil we can fear,
Is to possess our portion here!
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEXX FGFGAX HIHIAX JJJJXX KLKLMM HNHNXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01111 010001 100101 010111 11010101 11010101 110101 110101 010111 111101 0110101 0110101 011101 000101 111101 010111 011111 11110101 101111 110111 010101 11011 1111011 1111101 111101 010101 011101 010011 01011111 10110111 010111 111111 111111 110111 11010011 11010101 111101 111101 010101 111101 01010111 110110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,185 |
Words | 221 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 135 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 128 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Rich Man And Lazarus" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24035/the-rich-man-and-lazarus>.
Discuss this John Newton 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