Analysis of Gertrude's Prayer

Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)



That which is marred at birth Time shall not mend,
Nor water out of bitter well make clean;
All evil thing returneth at the end,
Or elseway walketh in our blood unseen.
Whereby the more is sorrow in certaine--
Dayspring mishandled cometh not againe.

To-bruized be that slender, sterting spray
Out of the oake's rind that should betide
A branch of girt and goodliness, straightway
Her spring is turned on herself, and wried
And knotted like some gall or veiney wen.--
Dayspring mishandled cometh not againe.

Noontide repayeth never morning-bliss--
Sith noon to morn is incomparable;
And, so it be our dawning goth amiss,
None other after--hour serveth well.
Ah! Jesu-Moder, pitie my oe paine--
Dayspring mishandled cometh not againe!


Scheme ababbB xxxaxB cxcxxB
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111111 1101110111 11011101 111010101 010111001 10101011 11111011 110111101 0111011 011110101 010111111 10101011 1110101 1111101000 01111010101 110101011 11101111 10101011
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 723
Words 123
Sentences 8
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 194
Words per stanza (avg) 40
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

37 sec read
171

Rudyard Kipling

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English short-story writer, poet, and novelist chiefly remembered for his tales and poems of British soldiers in India and his tales for children. more…

All Rudyard Kipling poems | Rudyard Kipling Books

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