Analysis of A Prayer

Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906



O LORD, the hard-won miles
Have worn my stumbling feet:
Oh, soothe me with thy smiles,
And make my life complete.

The thorns were thick and keen
Where'er I trembling trod;
The way was long between
My wounded feet and God.

Where healing waters flow
Do thou my footsteps lead.
My heart is aching so;
Thy gracious balm I need


Scheme ABAB CDCD EXEX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (67%)
Metre 110111 1111001 111111 011101 010101 1011001 011101 110101 110101 11111 111101 110111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 328
Words 62
Sentences 4
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 84
Words per stanza (avg) 20
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

18 sec read
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Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 Lyrics of a Lowly Life one poem in the collection being Ode to Ethiopia more…

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