Analysis of Invocation

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



The Spirit of Darkness, the Prince of the Power of the Air,
The terror that walketh by night, and the horror by day,
The legions of Evil, alert and awake and aware,
Press round him each hour; and I pray here alone, far away.

God! call up Thy legions to fight on the side of my love,
Let the seats of the mighty be cast down before him, O Lord,
Send strong wings of angels to shield him beneath and above,
Let glorious Michael unsheath his implacable sword.

Let the whole host of Heaven take part with my dear in his fight,
That the armies of Hell may be scattered like chaff in the blast,
And the trumpets of Heaven blow fair for the triumph of Right.
Inspire him, protect him, and bring him home victor at last.

But if--ah, dear God, give me strength to withhold nothing now! -
If the life of my life be required for Thy splendid design,
Give his country the laurels, though cold and uncrowned be his brow
. . .
Thou gavest Thy Son for the world, and shall I not give mine?


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHG H
Poetic Form
Metre 010110011010101 0101111001011 01011001001001 111110011101101 11111011101111 101101011101111 11111011101001 1100101101001 101111011111011 101011111011001 001011011101011 01101101111011 11111111101101 1011111010111001 11100101101111 1 1111101011111
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 966
Words 189
Sentences 11
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 5
Lines Amount 17
Letters per line (avg) 44
Words per line (avg) 11
Letters per stanza (avg) 188
Words per stanza (avg) 48
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

56 sec read
77

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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