Analysis of Olney Hymn 45: The Happy Change
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
How bless'd Thy creature is, O God,
When with a single eye,
He views the lustre of Thy Word,
The dayspring from on high!
Through all the storms that veil the skies
And frown on earthly things,
The Sun of Righteousness he eyes,
With healing on His wings.
Struck by that light, the human heart,
A barren soil no more,
Sends the sweet smell of grace abroad,
Where serpents lurk'd before.
The soul, a dreary province once
Of Satan's dark domain,
Feels a new empire form'd within,
And owns a heavenly reign.
The glorious orb whose golden beams
The fruitful year control,
Since first obedient to Thy Word,
He started from the goal,
Has cheer'd the nations with the joys
His orient rays impart;
But, Jesus, 'tis Thy light alone
Can shine upon the heart.
Scheme | XABA CDCD EFXF XGXG XHBH XEXE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11110111 110101 11010111 01111 11011101 011101 01110011 110111 11110101 010111 10111101 110101 01010101 11101 101100101 0101001 010011101 010101 110100111 110101 11010101 110101 11011101 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 754 |
Words | 137 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 97 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 61 Views
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