Analysis of A Dialogue Betwixt God And The Soul

Sir Henry Wotton 1568 (parish) – 1639 (chapel of Eton College)



Soul.
Whilst my Souls eye beheld no light
But what stream'd from thy gracious sight
To me the worlds greatest King,
Seem'd but some little vulgar thing.

God.
Whilst thou prov'dst pure; and that in thee
I could glass all my Deity;
How glad did I from Heaven depart,
To find a lodging in thy heart!

S. Now Fame and Greatness bear the sway,
('Tis they that hold my prisons Key):
For whom my soul would die, might she
Leave them her Immortalitie.

G. I, and some few pure Souls conspire,
And burn both in a mutual fire,
For whom I'd die once more, ere they
Should miss of Heavens eternal day.

S. But Lord! what if I turn again,
And with an adamantine chain,
Lock me to thee? What if I chase
The world away to give thee place?

G. Then though these souls in whom I joy
Are Seraphims, Thou but a toy,
A foolish toy, yet once more I
Would with thee live, and for thee die.


Scheme XAABB XCCDD ECCA FFEE XXGG HHII
Poetic Form
Metre 1 1111111 11111101 1101101 11110101 1 11110101 11111100 111111001 11010011 111010101 11111101 11111111 1101 1101111010 0110010010 11111111 111100101 111111101 01111 11111111 01011111 111110111 111101 01011111 11110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 851
Words 172
Sentences 15
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 26
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 109
Words per stanza (avg) 28
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

53 sec read
140

Sir Henry Wotton

Sir Henry Wotton was an English author, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1625. more…

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