Analysis of The Rebel's Surrender To Grace (Lord, What Wilt Thou Have Me to Do?)
John Newton 1725 (Wapping, London) – 1807 (London)
Lord, thou hast won, at length I yield,
My heart, by mighty grace compelled,
Surrenders all to thee;
Against thy terrors long I strove,
But who can stand against thy love?
Love conquers even me.
All that a wretch could do, I tried,
Thy patience scorned, thy pow'r defied,
And trampled on thy laws;
Scarcely thy martyrs at the stake,
Could stand more steadfast for thy sake,
Than I in Satan's cause.
But since thou hast thy love revealed,
And shown my soul a pardon sealed,
I can resist no more:
Couldst thou for such a sinner bleed?
Canst thou for such a rebel plead?
I wonder and adore!
If thou hadst bid thy thunders roll,
And lightnings flash to blast my soul,
I still had stubborn been:
But mercy has my heart subdued,
A bleeding Saviour I have viewed,
And now, I hate my sin.
Now, Lord, I would be thine alone,
Come take possession of thine own,
For thou hast set me free
Released from Satan's hard commands
See all my powers waiting stand,
To be employed by thee.
My will conformed to thine would move,
On thee my hope, desire, and love,
In fixed attention join;
My hands, my eyes, my ears, my tongue,
Have Satan's servants been too long,
But now they shall be thine.
And can I be the very same,
Who lately durst blaspheme thy name;
And on thy gospel tread?
Surely each one, who hears my case,
Will praise thee, and confess thy grace
Invincible indeed!
Scheme | AXBXCB DDXEEX AAFGGF HHIJJI KKBXXB XCXXXX LLXMMG |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111111 11110101 010111 01110111 11110111 110101 11011111 110111101 010111 10110101 1111111 11011 11111101 01110101 110111 11110101 11110101 110001 11111101 01011111 111101 11011101 0101111 011111 11111101 11010111 111111 0111101 11110101 110111 11011111 111101001 010101 11111111 1110111 111111 01110101 1101111 011101 10111111 11100111 010001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,331 |
Words | 255 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 150 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:17 min read
- 92 Views
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"The Rebel's Surrender To Grace (Lord, What Wilt Thou Have Me to Do?)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24032/the-rebel%27s-surrender-to-grace-%28lord%2C-what-wilt-thou-have-me-to-do%3F%29>.
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