Analysis of Joy In Martyrdom

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



Sweet tenants of this grove!
Who sing without design,
A song of artless love,
In unison with mine:
These echoing shades return
Full many a note of ours,
That wise ones cannot learn,
With all their boasted powers.

O thou! whose sacred charms
These hearts so seldom love,
Although thy beauty warms
And blesses all above;
How slow are human things,
To choose their happiest lot!
All–glorious King of kings,
Say why we love thee not?

This heart, that cannot rest,
Shall thine for ever prove;
Though bleeding and distressed,
Yet joyful in thy love:
'Tis happy though it breaks
Beneath thy chastening hand;
And speechless, yet it speaks,
What thou canst understand.


Scheme XABACDCD XBXBEFEF GXGBXHXH
Poetic Form
Metre 110111 110101 01111 010011 1100101 11001110 111101 1111010 111101 111101 11101 010101 111101 1111001 1100111 111111 111101 111101 110001 110011 110111 01111 010111 11101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 646
Words 115
Sentences 7
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 174
Words per stanza (avg) 38
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
115

William Cowper

William Macquarie Cowper was an Australian Anglican archdeacon and Dean of Sydney. more…

All William Cowper poems | William Cowper Books

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