Analysis of Hymn to Humility

William Hayley 1745 – 1820



Of all the Christian virtues chief
With modest charms, and mild relief,
Most apt to heal the wounds of pride, and spleen,
To thee, humility; I bend;
O let me feel, thou art my friend!
Rule thou my bosom, as its gentle queen!

'Tis thine benignly to repress
All proud conceit, all vain excess;
To give the chasten'd mind its proper tone;
To make it keep in sight
The worth of others with delight,
And never look too fondly on its own.

Teach me, with active zeal, to wake
At nature's sigh, for pity's sake,
When pride in dreams of apathy will nod!
Still guided by thy Christian breath,
Keep me, thro' scenes of life, and death,
To mortals kind, and dutiful to God.


Scheme AABCCB DDEFFE GGHIIH
Poetic Form
Metre 11010101 11010101 1111011101 11010011 11111111 1111011101 11010101 1101111 1101011101 111101 01110101 0101110111 11110111 1101111 1101110011 11011101 11111101 1101010011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 650
Words 126
Sentences 5
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 169
Words per stanza (avg) 41
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
6

William Hayley

William Hayley was an English writer best known as the friend and biographer of William Cowper more…

All William Hayley poems | William Hayley Books

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