Analysis of Psalm 22
Isaac Watts 1674 (Southampton, Hampshire) – 1748 (Stoke Newington, Middlesex)
Christ's sufferings and exaltation.
Now let our mournful songs record
The dying sorrows of our Lord,
When he complained in tears and blood,
As one forsaken of his God.
The Jews beheld him thus forlorn,
And shake their heads, and laugh in scorn:
"He rescued others from the grave;
Now let him try himself to save.
"This is the man did once pretend
God was his Father and his Friend
If God the blessed loved him so,
Why doth he fail to help him now?"
Barbarous people! cruel priests!
How they stood round like savage beasts!
Like lions gaping to devour,
When God had left him in their power.
They wound his head, his hands, his feet,
Till streams of blood each other meet;
By lot his garments they divide,
And mock the pangs in which he died.
But God, his Father, heard his cry;
Raised from the dead, he reigns on high,
The nations learn his righteousness,
And humble sinners taste his grace.
Scheme | A BBXX AACC DDXA EEFF GGHH IIXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 110001 111010101 010101101 11010101 11010111 0111101 01110101 11010101 11110111 11011101 11110011 1101111 11111111 10010101 11111101 110101010 111110110 11111111 11111101 11110101 01010111 11110111 11011111 01011100 01010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 874 |
Words | 167 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 99 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 05, 2023
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"Psalm 22" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/19722/psalm-22>.
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