Analysis of The Valley of the Shadow of Death
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
My soul is sad, and much dismay'd;
See, Lord, what legions of my foes,
With fierce Apollyon at their head,
My heavenly pilgrimage oppose.
See, from the ever-burning lake,
How like a smoky cloud they rise!
With horrid blasts my soul they shake,
With storms of blasphemies and lies.
Their fiery arrows reach the mark,
My throbbing heart with anguish tear;
Each lights upon a kindred spark,
And finds abundant fuel there.
I hate the thought that wrongs the Lord;
Oh! I would drive it from my breast,
With Thy own sharp two-edged sword,
Far as the east is from the west.
Come, then, and chase the cruel host,
Heal the deep wounds I have received!
Nor let the power of darkness boast
That I am foil'd, and Thou art grieved!
Scheme | XAXA BCBC DEDE FGFG HIHI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11110101 11110111 111111 110010001 11010101 11010111 11011111 111101 110010101 11011101 11010101 01010101 11011101 11111111 1111111 11011101 11010101 10111101 110101101 11110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 726 |
Words | 133 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 111 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 87 Views
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"The Valley of the Shadow of Death" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40200/the-valley-of-the-shadow-of-death>.
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