Analysis of The Lord Is My Shepherd

James Montgomery 1771 (Irvine) – 1854



The Lord is my Shepherd, no want shall I know;
I feed in green pastures, safe folded I rest;
He leadeth my soul where the still waters flow,
Restores me when wand’ring, redeems when oppressed.

Through valley and shadow of death though I stray,
Since Thou art my Guardian, no evil I fear;
Thy rod shall defend me, Thy staff be my stay;
No harm can befall, with my Comforter near.

In midst of affliction my table is spread;
With blessings unmeasured my cup runneth o’er;
With perfume and oil Thou anointest my head;
O what shall I ask of Thy providence more?

Let goodness and mercy, my bountiful God,
Still follow my steps till I meet Thee above;
I seek, by the path which my forefathers trod,
Through land of their sojourn, Thy Kingdom of love.


Scheme ABAB CDCD ECEX FGFG
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 01111011111 11011011011 1111101101 0111101101 1100111111 111110011011 11101111111 11101111001 01101011011 11011111 101011111 11111111001 11001011001 11011111101 1110111101 11111011011
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 740
Words 139
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 145
Words per stanza (avg) 34
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

41 sec read
110

James Montgomery

The Very Reverend James Francis Montgomery was an Anglican priest in the second half of the 19th century He studied for the bar before being ordained after a period of study at Durham University, and was a Curate at Puddletown before Edinburgh incumbencies. more…

All James Montgomery poems | James Montgomery Books

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