Analysis of The Straying Sheep

Robert Wadsworth Lowry 1826 (Philadelphia) – 1899 (Plainfield)



How many sheep are straying
Lost from the Savior's fold!
Upon the lonely mountain, They shiver with the cold:
Within the tangled thickets,
Where poison vines do creep,
And over rocky ledges
Still roam the poor lost sheep.

O come, let us go and find them!
In the paths of death they roam.
At the close of the day 'twill be sweet to say:
"I have brought some lost one home."

O who will go to find them?
Who, for the Savior's sake,
Will search with tireless patience
Through brier and through brake
Unheeding thirst or hunger,
Who still from day to day,
Will seek, as for treasure,
The sheep that go astray?

O come, let us go and find them!
In the paths of death they roam.
At the close of the day 'twill be sweet to say:
"I have brought some lost one home."

Say, will you seek to find them?
From pleasant bow'rs of ease
Will you go forth determined
To find the least of these?
For still the Savior calls them,
And looks across the wold,
And still He holds wide open
The door into His fold.

O come, let us go and find them!
In the paths of death they roam.
At the close of the day 'twill be sweet to say:
"I have brought some lost one home."

How sweet 'twound be at evening
If you and I could say,
"Good Shepherd we've been seeking
The sheep that went astray!
Heartsore and faint with hunger,
We heard them making moan,
And lo! we come at nightfall,
And bear them safely home."

O come, let us go and find them!
In the paths of death they roam.
At the close of the day 'twill be sweet to say:
"I have brought some lost one home."


Scheme abbxcxc DEFE dgxghfhf DEFE dixidbxb DEFE afafhxxe DEFE
Poetic Form Song
Metre 1101110 110101 0101010110101 0101010 110111 0101010 110111 11111011 0011111 10110111111 1111111 1111111 110101 11110010 110011 11110 111111 111110 011101 11111011 0011111 10110111111 1111111 1111111 110111 1111010 110111 1101011 010101 0111110 010111 11111011 0011111 10110111111 1111111 1111110 110111 1101110 011101 101110 111101 011111 011101 11111011 0011111 10110111111 1111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,487
Words 307
Sentences 23
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 7, 4, 8, 4, 8, 4, 8, 4
Lines Amount 47
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 145
Words per stanza (avg) 38
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:31 min read
64

Robert Wadsworth Lowry

Robert Lowry was an American preacher who became a popular writer of gospel music in the mid- to late-19th century. more…

All Robert Wadsworth Lowry poems | Robert Wadsworth Lowry Books

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