Analysis of Sursum Corda

Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803 (Boston) – 1882 (Concord)



Seek not the Spirit, if it hide,
Inexorable to thy zeal:
Baby, do not whine and chide;
Art thou not also real?
Why should'st thou stoop to poor excuse?
Turn on the Accuser roundly; say,
"Here am I, here will I remain
Forever to myself soothfast,
Go thou, sweet Heaven, or, at thy pleasure stay."—
Already Heaven with thee its lot has cast,
For it only can absolutely deal.


Scheme ABABCDEADFB
Poetic Form
Metre 11010111 1000111 1011101 111101 111111101 110010101 11111101 010111 11110111101 01010111111 111010101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 372
Words 72
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 11
Lines Amount 11
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 283
Words per stanza (avg) 69
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 30, 2023

21 sec read
446

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. more…

All Ralph Waldo Emerson poems | Ralph Waldo Emerson Books

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