Analysis of St. Ignatius Loyola At The Chapel Of Our Lady Of Montserrat
’Tis midnight, and solemn darkness broods
In a lonely, sacred fane—
The church of Our Lady of Montserrat,
So famous throughout all Spain;
For countless were the pilgrim hosts
Who knelt at that sacred shrine
With aching hearts, that came to seek
Relief and grace divine.
Pure as the light of the evening star
Shines the lamp’s pale, solemn ray,
That burns through midnight’s hush and gloom,
As well as the glare of day,
Like the Christian soul, enwrapped in God,
Resigning each vain delight,
Each earthly lure, to burn and shine
With pure love in His sight.
Softly the gentle radiance falls
On a mail-clad warrior there,
Who humbly bows his stately head
In silent, earnest prayer;
It flashes back from his corslet bright,
From each shining steel clad hand,
And the brow which tells that he was born
To pomp and high command.
Say, who is he, that vigil keeps,
Like the warrior knights of old,
Through the long lone hours of the silent night,
Ere they donned their spurs of gold?
A soldier brave and proud is he,
And bears a noble name,
Since Pampeluna’s glorious day
Won Loyola his fame.
What doth he at this lowly shrine?
What mean those prayers and sighs,
The tearful mist that dims the light
Of his flashing, eagle eyes?
They tell of life’s vain pomps and pride
Esteemed as worthless dross,
For the dauntless soldier has become
The soldier of the Cross.
That sword, that once like lightning swept
Through ranks of foes hard pressed,
Now hangs beside Our Lady’s shrine,
Henceforth in peace to rest,—
And soon the penitent’s rough, dark robe,
His girdle and cowl of gloom,
Will replace the soldier’s armor bright,
And his lofty, waving plume.
Well done, well done, thou warrior brave!
A noble choice is thine!
What are the laurels of earth beside
The joys of bliss divine?
And thou hast won, though seeking not,
The saint’s undying fame—
Christ’s Holy Church will evermore
Revere and bless thy name!
Scheme | ABCBADXD XEFEXGDG AHXHGIXI AJGJXKEK DAGALAXA XMDMXFGF XDLDCKXK |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 0010101 01110101001 1100111 11000101 1111101 11011111 010101 110110101 1011101 1111101 1110111 10101101 0101101 11011101 111011 100101001 10111001 11011101 010101 11011111 1110111 001111111 110101 11111101 10100111 10111010101 1111111 01010111 010101 111001 11011 11111101 111101 01011101 1110101 11111101 011101 10110101 010101 11111101 111111 11011011 110111 0101111 1100111 11010101 0110101 111111001 010111 110101101 011101 01111101 010101 1101110 010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,883 |
Words | 338 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 214 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:41 min read
- 138 Views
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"St. Ignatius Loyola At The Chapel Of Our Lady Of Montserrat" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33051/st.-ignatius-loyola-at-the-chapel-of-our-lady-of-montserrat>.
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