Analysis of By Rugged Ways
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
By rugged ways and thro' the night
We struggle blindly toward the light;
And groping, stumbling, ever pray
For sight of long delaying day.
The cruel thorns beside the road
Stretch eager points our steps to goad,
And from the thickets all about
Detaining hands reach threatening out.
'Deliver us, oh, Lord,' we cry,
Our hands uplifted to the sky.
No answer save the thunder's peal,
And onward, onward, still we reel.
'Oh, give us now thy guiding light;'
Our sole reply, the lightning's blight.
'Vain, vain,' cries one, 'in vain we call;'
But faith serene is over all.
Beside our way the streams are dried,
And famine mates us side by side.
Discouraged and reproachful eyes
Seek once again the frowning skies.
Yet shall there come, spite storm and shock,
A Moses who shall smite the rock,
Call manna from the Giver's hand,
And lead us to the promised land!
The way is dark and cold and steep,
And shapes of horror murder sleep,
And hard the unrelenting years;
But 'twixt our sighs and moans and tears,
We still can smile, we still can sing,
Despite the arduous journeying.
For faith and hope their courage lend,
And rest and light are at the end.
Scheme | AABBCCDD EEFFAAGG HHIIJJKK LLXXMMNN |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 110100101 010100101 11110101 01010101 110110111 01010101 010111001 01011111 101100101 1101011 01010111 11111101 10101011 11110111 11011101 011010111 01011111 010011 11010101 11111101 01011101 1101011 01110101 01110101 01110101 0100101 111010101 11111111 010100100 11011101 01011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,121 |
Words | 211 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 222 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 51 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 79 Views
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"By Rugged Ways" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28674/by-rugged-ways>.
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