Analysis of The Rosary

Joyce Kilmer 1886 (New Brunswick) – 1918 (Seringes-et-Nesles)



Not on the lute, nor harp of many strings
 Shall all men praise the Master of all song.
 Our life is brief, one saith, and art is long;
And skilled must be the laureates of kings.
Silent, O lips that utter foolish things!
 Rest, awkward fingers striking all notes wrong!
 How from your toil shall issue, white and strong,
Music like that God's chosen poet sings?

There is one harp that any hand can play,
 And from its strings what harmonies arise!
There is one song that any mouth can say, --
 A song that lingers when all singing dies.
When on their beads our Mother's children pray
 Immortal music charms the grateful skies.


Scheme ABBAABBA CDCDCD
Poetic Form Petrarchan sonnet 
Metre 1101111101 1111010111 10111110111 0111010011 1011110101 1101010111 1111110101 1011110101 1111110111 0111110001 1111110111 0111011101 11111010101 0101010101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 623
Words 116
Sentences 9
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 243
Words per stanza (avg) 57
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 03, 2023

35 sec read
117

Joyce Kilmer

Joyce Kilmer was an American writer and poet mainly remembered for a short poem titled "Trees", which was published in the collection Trees and Other Poems in 1914. more…

All Joyce Kilmer poems | Joyce Kilmer Books

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