Analysis of Happy Solitude--Unhappy Men
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
My heart is easy, and my burden light;
I smile, though sad, when thou art in my sight:
The more my woes in secret I deplore,
I taste thy goodness, and I love thee more.
There, while a solemn stillness reigns around,
Faith, love, and hope within my soul abound;
And, while the world suppose me lost in care,
The joys of angels, unperceived, I share.
Thy creatures wrong thee, O thou sovereign good!
Thou art not loved, because not understood;
This grieves me most, that vain pursuits beguile
Ungrateful men, regardless of thy smile.
Frail beauty and false honour are adored;
While Thee they scorn, and trifle with thy Word;
Pass, unconcerned, a Saviour's sorrows by;
And hunt their ruin with a zeal to die.
Scheme | AABB CCDD EEFF XXGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (75%) |
Metre | 1111001101 1111111011 0111010101 1111001111 1101010101 1101011101 0101011101 01110111 1101111101 111101101 1111110101 0101010111 110011101 1111010111 10101101 0111010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 698 |
Words | 128 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 137 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 17, 2023
- 38 sec read
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"Happy Solitude--Unhappy Men" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39869/happy-solitude--unhappy-men>.
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