Analysis of Hymn 14

Isaac Watts 1674 (Southampton, Hampshire) – 1748 (Stoke Newington, Middlesex)



The triumph of faith or, Christ's unchangeable love.

Who shall the Lord's elect condemn?
'Tis God that justifies their souls;
And mercy, like a mighty stream,
O'er all their sins divinely rolls.

Who shall adjudge the saints to hell?
'Tis Christ that suffered in their stead;
And, the salvation to fulfil,
Behold him rising from the dead!

He lives! he lives and sits above,
For ever interceding there:
Who shall divide us from his love?
Or what should tempt us to despair?

Shall persecution, or distress,
Famine, or sword, or nakedness?
He that hath loved us bears us through,
And makes us more than conquerors too.

Faith hath an overcoming power;
It triumphs in the dying hour:
Christ is our life, our joy, our hope,
Nor can we sink with such a prop.

Not all that men on earth can do,
Nor powers on high, nor powers below,
Shall cause his mercy to remove,
Or wean our hearts from Christ our love.


Scheme A XBXB CDCD AEAE XBFF GGXX FXXA
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 010111111 11010101 1111011 01010101 101110101 11010111 11110011 0001011 01110101 11110101 1100101 11011111 11111101 1010101 101111 11111111 011111001 11110010 110001010 11101101101 11111101 11111111 1101111001 11110101 1110111101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 893
Words 167
Sentences 15
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 25
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 99
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

51 sec read
67

Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts was an English Christian minister (Congregational), hymn writer, theologian, and logician. He was a prolific and popular hymn writer and is credited with some 750 hymns. He is recognized as the "Godfather of English Hymnody"; many of his hymns remain in use today and have been translated into numerous languages. more…

All Isaac Watts poems | Isaac Watts Books

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