Analysis of Christmas Hymn
Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)
O CHRIST, born on the holy day,
I have no gift to give my King;
No flowers grow by my weary way;
I have no birthday song to sing.
How can I sing Thy name and praise,
Who never saw Thy face divine;
Who walk in darkness all my days,
And see no Eastern stars a-shine?
Yet, when their Christmas gifts they bring,
How can I leave Thy praise unsung?
How stay from homage to the King,
And hold a silent, grudging tongue?
Lord, I found many a song to sing,
And many a humble hymn of praise
For Thy great Miracle of Spring,
The wonder of the waxing days.
When I beheld Thy days and years,
Did I not sing Thy pleasant earth?
The moons of love, the years of tears,
The mysteries of death and birth?
Have I not sung with all my soul
While soul and song were mine to yield,
Thy lightning crown, Thy cloud-control,
The dewy clover of Thy field?
Have I not loved Thy birds and beasts,
Thy streams and woods, Thy sun and shade;
Have I not made me holy feasts
Of all the beauty Thou hast made?
What though my tear-tired eyes, alas!
Won never grace Thy face to see?
I heard Thy footstep on the grass,
Thy voice in every wind-blown tree.
No music now I make or win,
Yet, Lord, remember I have been
The lover of Thy world, wherein
I found nought common or unclean.
Grown old and blind, I sing no more,
Thy saints in heaven sing sweet and strong,
Yet take the songs I made of yore
For echoes to Thy birthday song.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD BEBE BCBC XFXF GHGH IJIJ KLKL MMMX NONO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (90%) Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11110101 11111111 110111101 1111111 11111101 11011101 11010111 01110101 11110111 11111101 11110101 01010101 111100111 010010111 11110011 01010101 1111101 11111101 01110111 01001101 11111111 11010111 11011101 01010111 11111101 11011101 11111101 11010111 111110101 11011111 1111101 110100111 11011111 11010111 01011101 11110101 11011111 110101101 11011111 1101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,400 |
Words | 278 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 107 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:23 min read
- 86 Views
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"Christmas Hymn" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8802/christmas-hymn>.
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