Analysis of God-Forgotten
Thomas Hardy 1840 (Stinsford) – 1928 (Dorchester, Dorset)
I towered far, and lo! I stood within
The presence of the Lord Most High,
Sent thither by the sons of earth, to win
Some answer to their cry.
--"The Earth, say'st thou? The Human race?
By Me created? Sad its lot?
Nay: I have no remembrance of such place:
Such world I fashioned not." -
--"O Lord, forgive me when I say
Thou spak'st the word, and mad'st it all." -
"The Earth of men--let me bethink me . . . Yea!
I dimly do recall
"Some tiny sphere I built long back
(Mid millions of such shapes of mine)
So named . . . It perished, surely--not a wrack
Remaining, or a sign?
"It lost my interest from the first,
My aims therefor succeeding ill;
Haply it died of doing as it durst?" -
"Lord, it existeth still." -
"Dark, then, its life! For not a cry
Of aught it bears do I now hear;
Of its own act the threads were snapt whereby
Its plaints had reached mine ear.
"It used to ask for gifts of good,
Till came its severance self-entailed,
When sudden silence on that side ensued,
And has till now prevailed.
"All other orbs have kept in touch;
Their voicings reach me speedily:
Thy people took upon them overmuch
In sundering them from me!
"And it is strange--though sad enough -
Earth's race should think that one whose call
Frames, daily, shining spheres of flawless stuff
Must heed their tainted ball! . . .
"But say'st thou 'tis by pangs distraught,
And strife, and silent suffering? -
Deep grieved am I that injury should be wrought
Even on so poor a thing!
"Thou should'st have learnt that Not to Mend
For Me could mean but Not to Know:
Hence, Messengers! and straightway put an end
To what men undergo." . . .
Homing at dawn, I thought to see
One of the Messengers standing by.
- Oh, childish thought! . . . Yet oft it comes to me
When trouble hovers nigh.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ BKBK XLXL MNMN OFOF PQPQ RSRS NBNB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1101011101 01010111 111011111 110111 011110101 11010111 1111010111 111101 11011111 1110101111 011111111 11011 11011111 11011111 1111010101 010101 11110101 1110101 111110111 1111 11111101 11111111 1111010101 111111 11111111 111100101 1101011101 011101 11011101 1111100 11010111 01111 01111101 11111111 1101011101 111101 111111101 01010100 11111100111 1011101 111111111 11111111 110001111 11101 10111111 110100101 1101111111 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,873 |
Words | 330 |
Sentences | 40 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
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 May 02, 2023
- 1:40 min read
- 533 Views
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