Analysis of Denial

George Herbert 1593 (Montgomery) – 1633 (Bemerton)



When my devotions could not pierce
Thy silent ears;
Then was my heart broken, as was my verse:
My breast was full of fears
And disorder:

My bent thoughts, like a brittle bow,
Did fly asunder:
Each took his way; some would to pleasures go,
Some to the wars and thunder
Of alarms.

As good go any where, they say,
As to benumb
Both knees and heart, in crying night and day,
Come, come, my God, O come,
But no hearing.

O that thou shouldst give dust a tongue
To cry to thee,
And then not hear it crying! all day long
My heart was in my knee,
But no hearing.

Therefore my soul lay out of sight,
Untuned, unstrung:
My feeble spirit, unable to look right,
Like a nipped blossom, hung
Discontented.

O cheer and tune my heartless breast,
Defer no time;
That so thy favors granting my request,
They and my mind may chime,
And mend my rime.


Scheme xaxab xbcbx dedeF ghxhF icigx jejee
Poetic Form Tetractys  (40%)
Etheree  (20%)
Metre 111111 1101 1111101111 111111 0010 11110101 11010 1111111101 1101010 101 11110111 111 1101010101 111111 1110 11111101 1111 0111110111 111011 1110 1111111 11 11010010111 101101 010 11011101 0111 1111010101 101111 0111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 837
Words 162
Sentences 7
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 106
Words per stanza (avg) 27
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 11, 2023

48 sec read
215

George Herbert

The Very Reverend Honourable George Herbert was an Anglican priest. more…

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