Analysis of Psalm 39 part 3

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



v.9-13
C. M.
Sick-bed devotion.

God of my life, look gently down,
Behold the pains I feel;
But I am dumb before thy throne,
Nor dare dispute thy will.

Diseases are thy servants, Lord,
They come at thy command;
I'll not attempt a murm'ring word
Against thy chast'ning hand.

Yet I may plead with humble cries,
Remove thy sharp rebukes;
My strength consumes, my spirit dies,
Through thy repeated strokes.

Crushed as a moth beneath thy hand,
We moulder to the dust;
Our feeble powers can ne'er withstand,
And all our beauty's lost.

[This mortal life decays apace,
How soon the bubble's broke!
Adam and all his num'rous race
Are vanity and smoke.]

I'm but a sojourner below,
As all my fathers were;
May I be well prepared to go,
When I the summons hear.

But if my life be spared awhile,
Before my last remove,
Thy praise shall be my business still,
And I'll declare thy love.


Scheme XXX XXXA XBXB CXCX BXBX DEDE FXFX XXAX
Poetic Form
Metre 1 11 11010 11111101 010111 11110111 110111 01011101 111101 1101011 01111 11111101 011101 11011101 110101 11010111 110101 1010101101 011011 11010101 11011 1001111 110001 11010001 111100 11110111 110101 11111101 011101 11111101 010111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 849
Words 162
Sentences 13
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 31
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 84
Words per stanza (avg) 20
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

51 sec read
59

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…

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