Analysis of Charity

Hanford Lennox Gordon 1836 ( Andover, New York, ) – 1920 ( Minnesota)



Frail are the best of us, brothers
God's charity cover us all
Yet we ask for perfection in others,
And scoff when they stumble and fall.
Shall we give him a fish or a serpent
Who stretches his hand in his need?
Let the proud give a stone, but the manly
Will give him a hand full of bread.

Let us search our own hearts and behavior
Ere we cast at a brother a stone,
And remember the words of the Savior
To the frail and unfortunate one;
Remember when others displease us
The Nazarene's holy command,
For the only word written by Jesus
Was charity writ in the sand.


Scheme ABABXXXX CXCXDEDE
Poetic Form
Metre 11011110 11001011 1111010010 01111001 1111011010 11011011 1011011010 11101111 11110110010 111101001 0010011010 101001001 010110011 011001 1010110110 11001001
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 551
Words 111
Sentences 4
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 221
Words per stanza (avg) 55
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
19

Hanford Lennox Gordon

Gen. Hanford Lennox Gordon, prominent among the organizers of the State of Minnesota and for over thirty years a resident of California, died in his sleep Thursday morning at his daughter's residence here. Although given up to die in his thirties and a semi-invalid he attained nearly 84 years. He was a poet as well as a pioneer and shortly before his death revised his "Indian Legends and Other Poems." He won his military title fighting against the Sioux during Minnesota's bloodiest days of massacre, but afterward was a great friend of the Indians and was adopted into the Sioux tribe, an honor granted few white men. He was an officer and organizer of the gallant First Minnesota regiment which made a magnificent charge at Round Top during the Civil War, a feat which he embalmed in majestic verse. After the war he devoted himself to law and lumbering. For years he stood at the head of the bar in Minnesota. He took a strong interest in politics and helped to organize the Republican party in his State. He cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln and was repeatedly elected to high office. After coming to California he took up ranching and he had a considerable part in the developing of southwestern Los Angeles, having at one time owned all of Kinney Heights. Burial will be at Rosedale Cemetery today. more…

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