Analysis of A prayer to the Father of heaven

John Skelton 1460 (Norfolk) – 1529 (London)



O radiant luminary of light interminable,
    Celestial Father, potential God of might,
Of heaven and earth O Lord incomparable,
   Of all perfections the essential most perfite !
    O maker of mankind, that formëd day and night,
Whose power imperial comprehendeth every place :
   Mine heart, my mind, my thought, my whole delight
Is after this life to see thy glorious face.

Whose magnificense is incomprehensible,
    All arguments of reason which far doth exceed,
Whose deity doubtless is indivisible,
    From whom all goodness and virtue doth proceed ;
    Of thy support all creätures have need :
Assist me, good Lord, and grant my of thy grace
    To live to thy pleasure in word, thought, and deed,
And after this life to see thy glorious face.


Scheme ABABBCBC ADADDCDC
Poetic Form
Metre 11001001101000 01010010111 110011101000 111001011 110111111101 110010011001 1111111101 110111111001 11100100 110011011101 11001010100 11110010101 110111111 01111011111 11111001101 010111111001
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 763
Words 122
Sentences 4
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 288
Words per stanza (avg) 62
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
69

John Skelton

John Skelton (1460-1529), also known as John Shelton, possibly born in Diss, Norfolk, was an English poet. more…

All John Skelton poems | John Skelton Books

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