Analysis of To Life's Pilgrim

Geoffrey Chaucer 1343 (London) – 1400 (London)



FLY from the press, and dwell with soothfastness;

Suffice unto thy good, though it be small,
For hoard hath hate, and climbing tickleness ;

Preise hath envie, and weal is blent o'er all.

Savor no more than thee behoven shall,
Rede well thy self that other folk can'st rede,
And Truth thee shalt deliver 'tis no drede.

That thee is sent receive in buxomness :
The wrestling of this world, asketh a fall.

Here is no home, here is but wilderness.
Forth, pilgrim, forth on, best out of thy stall;
Look up on high, and thank the God of all!

Weivith thy lust, and let thy ghost thee lead,

And Truth thee shalt deliver 'tis no drede.


Scheme a ba b xcC ab abb c C
Poetic Form
Metre 11010111 0110111111 11110101 1110111101 10111111 11111101111 0111010111 11110101 010111101 1111111100 1101111111 1111010111 111011111 0111010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 634
Words 117
Sentences 7
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 1, 2, 1, 3, 2, 3, 1, 1
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 60
Words per stanza (avg) 15
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 11, 2023

35 sec read
184

Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer, known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. more…

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