The Altar Literary Elements

A person dedicating an altar to God and asking for his sacrifice to be sanctified

The poem is written in iambic pentameter (lines 1-2, 15-16), iambic tetrameter (lines 3-4, 13-14), and iambic dimeter (lines 5-12). An iamb is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (for example, "whose PARTS”). A line of iambic pentameter has has five feet of two-syllable iambs (a total of ten syllables). Tetrameter has four feet. Dimeter has two. There are some exceptions to this regular meter. For example, line two starts with a trochee (stressed-unstressed: “MADE of”). The words “wherefore each part” in like 9 are all stressed, as is the phrase “praise they name” in line 12. This irregular emphasis stressed their importance. The rhyme scheme is: AABBCCDDEEBBGGHH (each repeated letter represents a rhyme).

“No workman’s tool hath touch’d the same”
repetition of /o/ sounds

“A HEART alone”
repetition of /a/ sound

“such a stone”
alliteration of /s/

While the speaker seems to address God with humility, by making a parallel between the creation of his poem and Christ's sacrifice he is also demonstrating intense pride.

Renaissance English verse; metaphysical poetry; devotional poetry

Supplicatory; humble; eager

Speaker vs. God

The speaker is raising an altar to God both in his heart and, implicitly, through his words. He admits that he is weak and broken, but he asks God to bless and sanctify this sacrifice anyway.

The line “No workman’s tool hath touch’d the same” (line 4) alludes to the Bible, Deuteronomy 27:5-6:
“And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. Thou shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God,” as well as Exodus 20:24-25: "An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it."

The line “A broken ALTAR . . . / Made of a heart” alludes to the Bible, Psalm 51:15-17: "O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise,” as well as 2 Corinthians 3:3: "Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”

The line “These stones to praise thee may not cease” ( line 14) alludes to the Bible, Luke 19:40: “And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.”

The line “O let thy blessed SACRIFICE be mine, / And sacntifie this ALTAR to be thine.” (lines-15-16) alludes to the Bible, Romans 12:1: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service," as well as the Book of Common Prayer: “And here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, our selves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee; humbly beseeching thee, that we, and all others who shall be partakers of this Holy Communion, may worthily receive the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son Jesus Christ, be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction, and made one body with him, that he may dwell in us, and we in him.” (from the Book of Common Prayer, to be recited after communion)

The speaker’s heart stands for his entire physical being and soul.

The speaker’s heart is personified in the poem and sometimes appears to be the one speaking. The “stones” described in the poem have the power to speak.