Analysis of The Necessity Of A New Heart

John Bunyan 1628 (Elstow, Bedfordshire) – 1688 (London)



Now wouldst thou have a heart that tender is,
A heart that forward is to close with bliss;

A heart that will impressions freely take
Of the new covenant, and that will make

The best improvement of the word of grace,
And that to wickedness will not give place;

All this is in the promise, and it may
Obtained be of them that humbly pray.

Wouldst thou enjoy that spirit that is free,
And looseth those that in their spirits be

Oppressed with guilt, or filth, or unbelief;
That spirit that will, where it dwells, be chief;

Which breaketh Samson's cord as rotten thread,
And raiseth up the spirit that is dead;

That sets the will at liberty to choose
Those things that God hath promis'd to infuse

Into the humble heart? All this, I say,
The promise holdeth out to them that pray.


Scheme XX AA BB CC DD EE FF GG CC
Poetic Form Couplet 
Metre 1111011101 0111011111 0111010101 1011000111 0101010111 0111001111 1110010011 011111101 1101110111 011101101 01111111 1101111111 11111101 011010111 1101110011 1111110101 0101011111 010111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 766
Words 146
Sentences 4
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 68
Words per stanza (avg) 16
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

44 sec read
75

John Bunyan

John Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, who is well known for his book The Pilgrim's Progress. more…

All John Bunyan poems | John Bunyan Books

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