Analysis of A Boy's Grief.
George MacDonald 1824 (Huntly) – 1905 (Ashtead)
Ah me! in ages far away,
The good, the heavenly land,
Though unbeheld, quite near them lay,
And men could understand.
The dead yet find it, who, when here,
Did love it more than this;
They enter in, are filled with cheer,
And pain expires in bliss.
Oh, fairly shines the blessed land!
Ah, God! I weep and pray--
The heart thou holdest in thy hand
Loves more this sunny day.
I see the hundred thousand wait
Around the radiant throne:
To me it is a dreary state,
A crowd of beings lone.
I do not care for singing psalms;
I tire of good men's talk;
To me there is no joy in palms,
Or white-robed solemn walk.
I love to hear the wild winds meet,
The wild old winds at night;
To watch the starlight throb and beat,
To wait the thunder-light.
I love all tales of valiant men,
Of women good and fair;
If I were rich and strong, ah then,
I would do something rare.
I see thy temple in the skies
On pillars strong and white;
I cannot love it, though I rise
And try with all my might.
Sometimes a joy lays hold on me,
And I am speechless then;
Almost a martyr I could be,
And join the holy men.
But soon my heart is like a clod,
My spirit wrapt in doubt--
"A pillar in the house of God,
And never more go out!"
No more the sunny, breezy morn;
No more the speechless moon;
No more the ancient hills, forlorn,
A vision, and a boon.
Ah, God! my love will never burn,
Nor shall I taste thy joy;
And Jesus' face is calm and stern--
I am a hapless boy.
Scheme | ABAB XCXC BABA DEDE XFXF GHGH IJIJ KHKH LILI BMXM NONO PQPQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11010101 0101001 111111 01101 01111111 111111 11001111 0101001 1101011 111101 0111011 111101 11010101 0101001 11110101 011101 11111101 1101111 11111101 111101 11110111 011111 1101101 110101 11111101 110101 11010111 111101 11110001 110101 11011111 011111 01011111 011101 1010111 010101 11111101 110101 01000111 010111 11010101 110101 11010101 010001 11111101 111111 01011101 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,422 |
Words | 300 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 90 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 23 Views
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"A Boy's Grief." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/55363/a-boy%27s-grief.>.
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