Analysis of On Another's Sorrow
William Blake 1757 (Soho) – 1827 (London)
Can I see another's woe,
And not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another's grief,
And not seek for kind relief?
Can I see a falling tear,
And not feel my sorrow's share?
Can a father see his child
Weep, nor be with sorrow filled?
Can a mother sit and hear
An infant groan, an infant fear?
No, no! never can it be!
Never, never can it be!
And can He who smiles on all
Hear the wren with sorrows small,
Hear the small bird's grief and care,
Hear the woes that infants bear --
And not sit beside the next,
Pouring pity in their breast,
And not sit the cradle near,
Weeping tear on infant's tear?
And not sit both night and day,
Wiping all our tears away?
Oh no! never can it be!
Never, never can it be!
He doth give his joy to all:
He becomes an infant small,
He becomes a man of woe,
He doth feel the sorrow too.
Think not thou canst sigh a sigh,
And thy Maker is not by:
Think not thou canst weep a tear,
And thy Maker is not year.
Oh He gives to us his joy,
That our grief He may destroy:
Till our grief is fled an gone
He doth sit by us and moan.
Scheme | abcc ddxx xefF ggdd xxed hhfF ggab iide jjxx |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (22%) |
Metre | 1110101 0110101 1110101 0111101 1110101 011111 1010111 1111101 1010101 11011101 1110111 1010111 0111111 1011101 1011101 1011101 0110101 1010011 0110101 1011101 0111101 10110101 1110111 1010111 1111111 1011101 1010111 1110101 1111101 0110111 1111101 0110111 1111111 11011101 11011111 1111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,060 |
Words | 220 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 87 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 578 Views
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