Analysis of The Pledge Made Good
there is a pledge we take
not with a handful of sounds
to praise a handful of cloth
bawled among indifferent strangers
for witness of one’s submission
to the judgment of some state
not on worn and soiled knees
to praise worn and soiled ikons
whispered among flickering candles
for witness of one’s submission
to the judgment of some spirit
not oaths to government, odes to god
nor to any ruler of body or soul
but the pledge of the soul to itself
and what makes good the pledge?
to hold an uncorrupted vision
of what the ideal world can be
and if not born into that world
at least know such a world exists
and become its citizen in spirit
and so to stand unreluctant
lift my eyes to see the highest
not hold a stillborn aspiration
whine of a world I never made
and never let fear bar my way
but walk serene with upraised head
and steady gaze toward the vision
of the joy that I can know on earth
Scheme | x axxBc xaxBd xxx x bxxxd cxbxx xbx |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110111 110111 110111 10101010 11011010 1010111 111011 111011 100110010 11011010 10101110 111100111 11101011011 101101101 011101 111110 11001111 01110111 11110101 0011100010 01111 11111010 11011010 11011101 01011111 1101111 010101010 101111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 872 |
Words | 173 |
Sentences | 2 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 5, 5, 3, 1, 5, 5, 3 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 90 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 01, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 1 View
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"The Pledge Made Good" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/87559/the-pledge-made-good>.
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