Overruled
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
The threads our hands in blindness spin
No self-determined plan weaves in;
The shuttle of the unseen powers
Works out a pattern not as ours.
Ah! small the choice of him who sings
What sound shall leave the smitten strings;
Fate holds and guides the hand of art;
The singer's is the servant's part.
The wind-harp chooses not the tone
That through its trembling threads is blown;
The patient organ cannot guess
What hand its passive keys shall press.
Through wish, resolve, and act, our will
Is moved by undreamed forces still;
And no man measures in advance
His strength with untried circumstance.
As streams take hue from shade and sun,
As runs the life the song must run;
But, glad or sad, to His good end
God grant the varying notes may tend!
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 41 sec read
- 66 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH IIJJ |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 733 |
Words | 136 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Overruled" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/23008/overruled>.
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