Analysis of Hymn: Thou Hidden Love of God

John Wesley 1703 (Epworth, Lincolnshire) – 1791 (London)



Thou hidden love of God, whose height,
      Whose depth unfathom'd no man knows,
    I see from far thy beauteous light,
      Inly I sigh for thy repose;
    My heart is pain'd, nor can it be
    At rest, till it finds rest in thee.

Thy secret voice invites me still,
      The sweetness of thy yoke to prove:
    And fain I would: but tho' my will
    Seem fix'd, yet wide my passions rove;
  Yet hindrances strew all the way;
  I aim at thee, yet from thee stray.

'Tis mercy all, that thou hast brought
    My mind to seek her peace in thee;
  Yet while I seek, but find thee not,
    No peace my wand'ring soul shall see;
  O when shall all my wand'rings end,
  And all my steps to thee-ward tend!

Is there a thing beneath the sun
    That strives with thee my heart to share?
  Ah! tear it thence, and reign alone,
    The Lord of ev'ry motion there;
  Then shall my heart from earth be free,
  When it hath found repose in thee.

O hide this self from me, that I
    No more, but Christ in me may live;
  My vile affections crucify,
    Nor let one darling lust survive;
  In all things nothing may I see,
  Nothing desire or seek but thee.

O Love, thy sov'reign aid impart,
    To save me from low-thoughted care:
  Chase this self-will thro' all my heart,
    Thro' all its latent mazes there:
  Make me thy duteous child, that I
  Ceaseless may Abba, Father, cry!

Ah no! ne'er will I backward turn:
    Thine wholly, thine alone I am!
  Thrice happy he who views with scorn
    Earth's toys, for thee his constant flame;
  O help that I may never move
  From the blest footsteps of thy love!

Each moment draw from earth away
    My heart that lowly waits thy call:
  Speak to my inmost soul, and say,
    I am thy love, thy God, thy all!
  To feel thy power, to hear thy voice,
  To taste thy love, be all my choice.


Scheme ABABCC DEDXFF XCXCGG XHXHCC IJIJCC KHKHII XXXXEX FLFLMM
Poetic Form
Metre 11011111 111111 1111111 1111101 11111111 11111101 11010111 01011111 01111111 11111101 11001101 11111111 11011111 11110101 11111111 11111111 11111111 01111111 11010101 11111111 11110101 0111101 11111111 11110101 11111111 11110111 1101010 11110101 01110111 100101111 1111101 1111111 11111111 11110101 1111111 10110101 11111101 11010111 11011111 11111101 11111101 1011111 11011101 11110111 1111101 11111111 111101111 11111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,814
Words 334
Sentences 14
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 48
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 161
Words per stanza (avg) 42
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:43 min read
123

John Wesley

John Wesley, also known as Wes Dearth is an American singer, songwriter and guitar player. more…

All John Wesley poems | John Wesley Books

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