Analysis of Olney Hymn 11: Jehovah Our Righteousness
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
My God, how perfect are Thy ways!
But mine polluted are;
Sin twines itself about my praise,
And slides into my prayer.
When I would speak what Thou hast done
To save me from my sin,
I cannot make Thy mercies known,
But self-applause creeps in.
Divine desire, that holy flame
Thy grace creates in me;
Alas! impatience is its name,
When it returns to Thee.
This heart, a fountain of vile thoughts.
How does it overflow,
While self upon the surface floats,
Still bubbling from below.
Let others in the gaudy dress
Of fancied merit shine;
The Lord shall be my righteousness,
The Lord forever mine.
Scheme | AXAX XBXB CDCD XEXE XFXF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (80%) Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11101111 110101 11010111 010111 11111111 111111 11011101 110110 010101101 110101 01010111 110111 11010111 11110 11010101 1100101 11000101 110101 01111100 010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 601 |
Words | 109 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 93 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 21 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 68 Views
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"Olney Hymn 11: Jehovah Our Righteousness" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39939/olney-hymn-11%3A-jehovah-our-righteousness>.
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