Analysis of Prayer
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
You talk o' prayer an' such -
Well, I jest don't know how;
I guess I got as much
Religion as a cow.
I fight an' drink an' swear;
Red hell I often raise,
But never said a prayer
In all my days.
I'm honest, right enough;
Don't take no stock in crimes;
I'm jest a dockside tough,
An' yet . . . an' yet sometimes,
If I should happen by
A church-door open wide
The chances are that I
Will sneak inside.
It's kin o' peaceful there,
Jest sittin' in a pew;
There's sompin' in the air
That rests me through an' through;
It does me heaps o' good
To see them candles glow,
So soothin' to the mood . . .
Why? - I don't know.
Unless that sittin' still
Can be a kind o' prayer;
My heart jest seems to fill
Wi' peace . . . Oh, God don't care
For guys the likes o' me;
I just ain't in His line:
But when the Cross I see,
I make the sign.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH CICIXJXJ KCKCLMLM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111 111111 111111 010101 111111 111101 110101 0111 110101 111101 11011 111101 111101 011101 010111 1101 111101 11001 11001 111111 111111 111101 11101 1111 01111 110111 111111 111111 110111 111011 110111 1101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 830 |
Words | 168 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 18 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 147 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 28, 2023
- 53 sec read
- 95 Views
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"Prayer" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32376/prayer>.
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