Analysis of Maundy Thursday
Wilfred Owen 1893 (Oswestry) – 1918 (Sambre–Oise Canal)
Between the brown hands of a server-lad
The silver cross was offered to be kissed.
The men came up, lugubrious, but not sad,
And knelt reluctantly, half-prejudiced.
(And kissing, kissed the emblem of a creed.)
Then mourning women knelt; meek mouths they had,
(And kissed the Body of the Christ indeed.)
Young children came, with eager lips and glad.
(These kissed a silver doll, immensely bright.)
Then I, too, knelt before that acolyte.
Above the crucifix I bent my head:
The Christ was thin, and cold, and very dead:
And yet I bowed, yea, kissed - my lips did cling.
(I kissed the warm live hand that held the thing.)
Scheme | ABACDADAEEFFGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101110101 0101110111 01110100111 0101001100 0101010101 1101011111 0101010101 1101110101 1101010101 111101110 010101111 0111010101 0111111111 1101111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 614 |
Words | 116 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 473 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 110 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 29, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 240 Views
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"Maundy Thursday" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/38519/maundy-thursday>.
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