Analysis of Psalm 12
Isaac Watts 1674 (Southampton, Hampshire) – 1748 (Stoke Newington, Middlesex)
The saint's safety and hope in evil times.
Lord, if thou dost not soon appear,
Virtue and truth will fly away;
A faithful man amongst us here
Will scarce be found, if thou delay.
The whole discourse, when neighbors meet,
Is filled with trifles loose and vain;
Their lips are flattery and deceit,
And their proud language is profane.
But lips that with deceit abound
Shall not maintain their triumph long;
The God of vengeance will confound
The flattering and blaspheming tongue.
"Yet shall our words be free," they cry;
"Our tongues shall be controlled by none:
Where is the Lord will ask us why?
Or say our lips are not our own?"
The Lord, who sees the poor oppressed,
And hears th' oppressor's haughty strain,
Will rise to give his children rest,
Nor shall they trust his word in vain.
Thy word, O Lord, though often tried,
Void of deceit shall still appear;
Not silver, sev'n times purified
From dross and mixture, shines so clear.
Thy grace shall in the darkest hour
Defend the holy soul from harm;
Though when the vilest men have power,
On every side will sinners swarm.
Scheme | X ABXB CDCD EXEX FXFX GDGD HAHA IXIX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0110010101 11111101 10011101 01010111 11111101 01101101 11110101 111100001 01110101 11110101 11011101 01110101 0100011 111011111 101110111 11011111 1110111101 01110101 01111101 11111101 11111101 11111101 11011101 1101110 11010111 111001010 01010111 11011110 110011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,055 |
Words | 196 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 29 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 105 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 59 sec read
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