Analysis of He Led Them By A Right Way

John Newton 1725 (Wapping, London) – 1807 (London)



When Israel was from Egypt freed,
The Lord, who brought them out,
Helped them in every time of need,
But led them round about.

To enter Canaan soon they hoped,
But quickly changed their mind;
When the Red Sea their passage stopped,
And Pharaoh marched behind.

The desert filled them with alarms,
For water and for food;
And Amalek, by force of arms,
To check their progress stood.

They often murmured by the way,
Because they judged by sight;
But were at length constrained to say,
The Lord had led them right.

In the Red Sea that stopped them first,
Their enemies were drowned;
The rocks gave water for their thirst,
And Manna spread the ground.

By fire and cloud their way was shown,
Across the pathless sands;
And Amalek was overthrown,
By Moses' lifted hands.

The way was right their hearts to prove,
To make God's glory known;
And show his wisdom, pow'r and love,
Engaged to save his own.

Just so the true believer's path
Through many dangers lies;
Though dark to sense, 'tis right to faith,
And leads us to the skies.


Scheme ABAB XCXC DXDX EFEF GHGH IJIJ XIXI XKXK
Poetic Form Quatrain  (88%)
Metre 110011101 011111 110100111 111101 11010111 110111 10111101 010101 01011101 110011 011111 11111 11010101 011111 10110111 011111 00111111 110001 01110111 010101 110011111 01011 01101 110101 01111111 111101 011101101 011111 110111 110101 11111111 011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,007
Words 187
Sentences 9
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 100
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

57 sec read
114

John Newton

Rev Dr John A Newton CBE is a prominent Methodist minister, author, historian and former President of the Methodist Conference. more…

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