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 Views
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