Analysis of Olney Hymn 51: Lively Hope And Gracious Fear

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



I was a grovelling creature once,
And basely cleaved to earth:
I wanted spirit to renounce
The clod that gave me birth.

But God hath breathed upon a worm,
And sent me from above
Wings such as clothe an angel's form,
The wings of joy and love.

With these to Pisgah's top I fly
And there delighted stand,
To view, beneath a shining sky,
The spacious promised land.

The Lord of all the vast domain
Has promised it to me,
The length and breadth of all the plain
As far as faith can see.

How glorious is my privilege!
To Thee for help I call;
I stand upon a mountain's edge,
O save me, lest I fall!

Though much exalted in the Lord,
My strength is not my own;
Then let me tremble at His word,
And none shall cast me down.


Scheme XAXA XBXB CDCD EFEF XGXG XXXX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (83%)
Metre 1101101 01111 11010101 011111 11110101 011101 1111111 011101 1111111 010101 11010101 010101 01110101 110111 01011101 111111 11001110 111111 11010101 111111 11010001 111111 11110111 011111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 723
Words 144
Sentences 8
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 92
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

44 sec read
130

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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