Analysis of Beyond the Whip
Rita Helberg 1962 (Port Elizabeth)
Beyond the Whip
Blissfully shy, and just a tiny seed was I
When sieved from the soil of my father.
Into manicured hands my devotion had fallen,
I’d grown to know no other than a heartless villain.
Captured for years by fearless obedience
My body I sentenced with measured deviance
To labor - once more - unto death and into the pit,
Beyond the sounds of the pounding whip.
It’s here, where souls abide instinctively naked,
Side by side, the secular and the sacred;
Where pride into meekness collapses -
Where the whip lies inept before the masses.
In this final hour vengeance is not what I seek,
Instead, for us both, oh lesser god, I now plead:
Holding the pierced Hands by which man was formed,
How dare I petition only the wounds of the wronged?
Scheme | A XXBB CCXA DDXX XXXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101 100101010111 111011110 0110011010110 1111110101010 10111100100 110110110100 1101110100101 010110101 111101010010 11101000010 11011010 10110101010 0110101011111 011111101111 1001111111 1110101001101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 777 |
Words | 154 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 17 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 118 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
About this poem
The poem is about the measured death of a slave - to finish off his destiny. However brutal his master, he encounters and faces his Creator and Saviour in the end as he recognizes the pierced hands of Christ. He had no desire to nurture his own wounds any longer. Inspired by the journey of Christ to the Cross.
Font size:
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Beyond the Whip" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/172820/beyond-the-whip>.
Discuss this Rita Helberg poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In