Analysis of Lovest Thou Me?
John Newton 1725 (Wapping, London) – 1807 (London)
'Tis a point I long to know,
Oft it causes anxious thought;
Do I love the Lord, or no?
Am I his, or am I not?
If I love, why am I thus?
Why this dull and lifeless frame?
Hardly, sure, can they be worse,
Who have never heard his name!
Could my heart so hard remain,
Prayer a task and burden prove;
Every trifle give me pain,
If I knew a Saviour's love?
When I turn my eyes within,
All is dark, and vain, and wild;
Filled with unbelief and sin,
Can I deem myself a child?
If I pray, or hear, or read,
Sin is mixed with all I do;
You that love the Lord indeed,
Tell me, Is it thus with you?
Yet I mourn my stubborn will,
Find my sin, a grief, and thrall;
Should I grieve for what I feel,
If I did not love at all?
Could I joy his saints to meet,
Choose the ways I once abhorred,
Find, at times, the promise sweet,
If I did not love the Lord?
Lord decide the doubtful case!
Thou who art thy people's sun;
Shine upon thy work of grace,
If it be indeed begun.
Let me love thee more and more,
If I love at all, I pray;
If I have not loved before,
Help me to begin today.
Scheme | AXAX XBXB CXCX DEDE XFXF XGXG HIHI JKJK LMLM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (78%) |
Metre | 1011111 1110101 1110111 1111111 1111111 1110101 1011111 1110111 1111101 1010101 10010111 111011 1111101 1110101 11101 111101 1111111 1111111 1110101 1111111 1111101 1110101 1111111 1111111 1111111 1011101 1110101 1111101 110101 1111101 1011111 1110101 1111101 1111111 1111101 1110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,044 |
Words | 227 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 87 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:08 min read
- 53 Views
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"Lovest Thou Me?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23955/lovest-thou-me%3F>.
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