Analysis of Belshazzar

John Newton 1725 (Wapping, London) – 1807 (London)



Poor sinners! little do they think
With whom they have to do!
But stand securely on the brink
Of everlasting woe.

Belshazzar thus, profanely bold,
The Lord of hosts defied;
But vengeance soon his boasts controlled,
And humbled all his pride.

He saw a hand upon the wall
And trembled on his throne
Which wrote his sudden dreadful fall
In characters unknown.

Why should he tremble at the view
Of what he could not read?
Foreboding conscience quickly knew
His ruin was decreed.

See him o'erwhelmed with deep distress!
His eyes with anguish roll;
His looks, and loosened joints, express
The terrors of his soul.

His pomp and music, guests and wine,
No more delight afford;
O sinner, ere this case be thine,
Begin to seek the Lord.

The law like this hand-writing stands,
And speaks the wrath of God;
But Jesus answers its demands,
And cancels it with blood.


Scheme ABAX CDCD EFEF BXBX GHGH IJIJ KXKX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (57%)
Metre 11010111 111111 11010101 10101 1111 011101 11011101 010111 11010101 010111 11110101 010001 11110101 111111 01010101 110101 1111101 111101 11010101 010111 11010101 110101 11011111 011101 01111101 010111 11010101 010111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 839
Words 152
Sentences 12
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 96
Words per stanza (avg) 21
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

45 sec read
42

John Newton

Rev Dr John A Newton CBE is a prominent Methodist minister, author, historian and former President of the Methodist Conference. more…

All John Newton poems | John Newton Books

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