Analysis of Watching Unto God In The Night Season (3)
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
Night! how I love thy silent shades,
My spirits they compose;
The bliss of heaven my soul pervades,
In spite of all my woes.
While sleep instils her poppy dews
In every slumbering eye,
I watch to meditate and muse,
In blest tranquillity.
And when I feel a God immense
Familiarly impart,
With every proof he can dispense,
His favour to my heart;
My native meanness I lament,
Though most divinely filled
With all the ineffable content
That Deity can yield.
His purpose and his course he keeps;
Treads all my reasonings down;
Commands me out of nature's deeps,
And hides me in his own.
When in the dust, its proper place,
Our pride of heart we lay;
'Tis then a deluge of his grace
Bears all our sins away.
Thou whom I serve, and whose I am,
Whose influence from on high
Refines, and still refines my flame,
And makes my fetters fly;
How wretched is the creature's state
Who thwarts thy gracious power;
Crushed under sin's enormous weight,
Increasing every hour!
The night, when passed entire with thee,
How luminous and clear!
Then sleep has no delights for me,
Lest thou should'st disappear.
My Saviour! occupy me still
In this secure recess;
Let reason slumber if she will,
My joy shall not be less.
Let reason slumber out the night;
But if thou deign to make
My soul the abode of truth and light,
Ah, keep my heart awake!
Scheme | ABAB CDCE FEFE EEEE XXAX GHGH XDXD EIEI JKJK LMLM ENEN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (73%) |
Metre | 11111101 110101 011101101 011111 1110101 01001001 1111001 011 01110101 101 110011101 11111 11010101 110101 110010010 110011 11001111 11111 01111101 011011 10011101 1011111 11010111 1110101 11110111 1100111 01010111 011101 1101011 1111010 11010101 01010010 011101011 110001 11110111 111101 111011 010101 11010111 111111 11010101 111111 110011101 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,286 |
Words | 243 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 94 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:14 min read
- 119 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Watching Unto God In The Night Season (3)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40252/watching-unto-god-in-the-night-season-%283%29>.
Discuss this William Cowper poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In