Analysis of Psalm 121
Isaac Watts 1674 (Southampton, Hampshire) – 1748 (Stoke Newington, Middlesex)
Up to the hills I lift mine eyes,
Th' eternal hills beyond the skies;
Thence all her help my soul derives;
There my Almighty refuge lives.
He lives; the everlasting God,
That built the world, that spread the flood;
The heav'ns with all their hosts he made,
And the dark regions of the dead.
He guides our feet, he guards our way;
His morning smiles bless all the day;
He spreads the evening veil, and keeps
The silent hours while Isr'el sleeps.
Isr'el, a name divinely blest,
May rise secure, securely rest;
Thy holy Guardian's wakeful eyes
Admit no slumber nor surprise.
No sun shall smite thy head by day,
Nor the pale moon with sickly ray
Shall blast thy couch; no baleful star
Dart his malignant fire so far.
Should earth and hell with malice burn,
Still thou shalt go, and still return,
Safe in the Lord; his heav'nly care
Defends thy life from every snare.
On thee foul spirits have no power;
And in thy last departing hour,
Angels that trace the airy road
Shall bear thee homeward to thy God.
Scheme | AAXX BXXX CCDD EEAA CCFF GGHH IIXB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (57%) |
Metre | 11011111 1101010101 11011101 11010101 1100101 11011101 01111111 00110101 1110111101 11011101 11010101 01010111 1010101 11010101 11010011 01110101 11111111 10111101 11111101 110101011 11011101 11110101 1001111 011111001 111101110 001101010 10110101 11110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 998 |
Words | 187 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 111 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 57 sec read
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"Psalm 121" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/19665/psalm-121>.
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