Analysis of Faith

Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)



A wall
Gray and tall,
And a sky of gray,
And a twilight cold;
And that is all
That my eyes behold.
But I know that unseen,
Beyond the wall,
On a lawn of green
White blossoms fall
In the waning light;
And beyond the lawn
Curtains are drawn
From windows bright.
And within she moves with her gracious hands
And the heart that loves and that understands,
Waiting to succour poor souls in need,
And to bind with her blessing the hearts that bleed.

I know it all, though I cannot see;
But the tired-out tramp,
Dirty and ill,
In the evening's damp,
In the Spring's clean chill,
Knows not that there
Is the heart to care
For such as I and for such as he.
He slouches along, and sees alone
The gray of the sky and the gray of the stone.

Lord, when my eyes see nothing but grey
In all Thy world that is now so green,
I will bethink me of this spring day
And the house of welcome, known yet unseen;
The wall that conceals
And the faith that reveals.


Scheme AABCACDADAEFFEGGHH IJKJKLLIMM BDBDNN
Poetic Form
Metre 01 101 00111 0011 0111 11101 111101 0101 10111 1101 00101 00101 1011 1101 0011110101 001110101 10111101 01110100111 111111101 101011 1001 00101 00111 1111 10111 111101111 110010101 01101001101 111111011 011111111 11111111 0011101101 01101 001101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 914
Words 188
Sentences 7
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 18, 10, 6
Lines Amount 34
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 242
Words per stanza (avg) 62
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 15, 2023

57 sec read
50

Edith Nesbit

Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 books of children's literature. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later affiliated to the Labour Party. more…

All Edith Nesbit poems | Edith Nesbit Books

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