Analysis of SECOND GREAT COMMAND
Barry Green Jr 1973 (Florida)
SECOND GREAT COMMAND
Drive quickly down the avenue
Rush inside to grab your pew
How many people fly past you
Who live lost lives, without a clue?
Run to your pals as the service ends
Tell the tale you know brings grins
But what of your neighbors in the sins
Their hopelessness never ends
Sing the songs, you sing no other place
You're so secure in your selfmade grace
Don't look away from the saddened face
Living inside the shattered case
Yell the pastor your problems and pray
Hope to live another happy day
Off you rush, on your merry way
Forget the needs you said you'd pray
Love your neighbors,second great command
Like to the first as a beach is to sand
Yet somehow we still fail to understand
The meaning behind the nail torn hands
You see blank looks in this blank town
Flash a smile to mask a hidden frown
Where's the mask when none are around?
Are you afraid to let you Faith make a sound?
Christian, you go so very fast
And those opportunities go so fast
You know your pace isn't gonna last
Time grows short, our bets we cast
Church on Sunday, you hurriedly go
Do you see the guy in the second row?
You see the Spirit in him glow
He has seeds he knows to sow
Remember you boss at work?
Such an unlikable jerk
Do you see the pain that lurks
Be healed if you let Spirit would work?
But you never give that second look
Never drop the Fisher's hook
That's the part you skip in the book
The part we should never overlook
People rush by, dying for His Word
And they'll die not having heard
The love Christ Himself assured
That we don't speak is absurd
Love your neighbors,second great command
Like to the first as a beach is to sand
AMEN
Scheme | a bbbb cddc eeee ffff AAax gghh iiii jjjx kkxk llll mmxm AAx |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101 1101010 1011111 11010111 11110101 111110101 1011111 111110001 1100101 101111101 11010111 110110101 10010101 101011001 111010101 11111101 01011111 111101 1101101111 11111101 010010111 11110111 101110101 10111101 11011111101 10111101 010100111 111110101 11110111 11111001 1110100101 11010011 1111111 0101111 1111 1110111 111111011 111011101 1010101 10111001 01111010 101110111 0111101 0110101 1111101 111101 1101101111 01 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,656 |
Words | 335 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 100 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
About this poem
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40
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"SECOND GREAT COMMAND" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/185376/second-great-command>.
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