Analysis of The Church of Unbent Knees

Christopher Morley 1890 (Haverford) – 1957



AS I went by the church to-day
I heard the organ cry;
And goodly folk were on their knees,
But I went striding by.

My minister hath a roof more vast:
My aisles are oak-trees high;
My altar-cloth is on the hills,
My organ is the sky.

I see my rood upon the clouds,
The winds, my chanted choir;
My crystal windows, heaven-glazed,
Are stained with sunset fire.

The stars, the thunder, and the rain,
White sands and purple seas-
These are His pulpit and His pew,
My God of Unbent Knees!


Scheme XABA XAXA XCXC XBXB
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11110111 110101 01010111 111101 110010111 111111 11011101 110101 11110101 0111010 11010101 111110 01010001 110101 11110011 11111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 487
Words 94
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 92
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

28 sec read
98

Christopher Morley

Christopher Morley was accepted to UCLA in 1969 with a major in mathematics. more…

All Christopher Morley poems | Christopher Morley Books

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