Analysis of Lord, Save Us, We Perish

Augustus Montague Toplady 1740 (Farnham, Surrey) – 1778



Pilot of the soul, awake,
Save us for thy mercies' sake;
Now rebuke the angry deep,
Save, O save thy sinking ship!

Stand at the helm, our vessel steer,
Mighty on our side appear
Saviour, teach us to descry
Where the rocks and quicksands lie.

The waves shall impotently roll,
If thou 'rt the anchor of the soul:
At thy word the wind shall cease,
Storms be hush'd to perfect peace.

Be thou our haven of retreat,
A rock to fix our wav'ring feet,
Teach us to own thy sovereign sway,
Whom the winds and seas obey.


Scheme AAXX BBBX CCDD EEFF
Poetic Form Quatrain  (50%)
Metre 1010101 1111101 1010101 1111101 110110101 10110101 11111 101011 01111 111010101 1110111 1111011 111010101 01111011 11111101 1010101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 501
Words 99
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 98
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
41

Augustus Montague Toplady

Augustus Montague Toplady was an Anglican cleric and hymn writer. He was a major Calvinist opponent of John Wesley. He is best remembered as the author of the hymn "Rock of Ages". Three of his other hymns – "A Debtor to Mercy Alone", "Deathless Principle, Arise" and "Object of My First Desire" – are still occasionally sung today. more…

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