Analysis of Giving And Taking

John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)



Who gives and hides the giving hand,
Nor counts on favor, fame, or praise,
Shall find his smallest gift outweighs
The burden of the sea and land.

Who gives to whom hath naught been given,
His gift in need, though small indeed
As is the grass-blade's wind-blown seed,
Is large as earth and rich as heaven.

Forget it not, O man, to whom
A gift shall fall, while yet on earth;
Yea, even to thy seven-fold birth
Recall it in the lives to come.

Who broods above a wrong in thought
Sins much; but greater sin is his
Who, fed and clothed with kindnesses,
Shall count the holy alms as nought.

Who dares to curse the hands that bless
Shall know of sin the deadliest cost;
The patience of the heavens is lost
Beholding man's unthankfulness.

For he who breaks all laws may still
In Sivam's mercy be forgiven;
But none can save, in earth or heaven,
The wretch who answers good with ill.


Scheme ABBA CDDC XEEX XXBA XXXB FCCF
Poetic Form Quatrain  (67%)
Metre 11010101 11110111 1111011 01010101 111111110 11011101 11011111 111101110 01111111 01111111 110111011 1100111 11010101 11110111 110111 11010111 11110111 111101001 010101011 01011 11111111 01101010 111101110 01110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 859
Words 166
Sentences 7
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 113
Words per stanza (avg) 27
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 28, 2023

50 sec read
97

John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. more…

All John Greenleaf Whittier poems | John Greenleaf Whittier Books

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