Analysis of Olney Hymn 9: The Contrite Heart

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



The Lord will happiness divine
On contrite hearts bestow;
Then tell me, gracious God, is mine
A contrite heart or no?

I hear, but seem to hear in vain,
Insensible as steel;
If aught is felt, 'tis only pain,
To find I cannot feel.

I sometimes think myself inclined
To love Thee if I could;
But often feel another mind,
Averse to all that's good.

My best desires are faint and few,
I fain would strive for more;
But when I cry, 'My strength renew!'
Seem weaker than before.

Thy saints are comforted, I know,
And love Thy house of prayer;
I therefore go where others go,
But find no comfort there.

Oh make this heart rejoice or ache;
Decide this doubt for me;
And if it be not broken, break -
And heal it, if it be.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH BIBI JKJK
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 01110001 101101 11110111 001111 11111101 010011 11111101 111101 1011101 111111 11010101 011111 110101101 111111 11111101 110101 11110011 011111 1111101 111101 11110111 11111 01111101 011111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 720
Words 141
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) 90
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

42 sec read
73

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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