Analysis of Divine Justice Amiable
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
Thou hast no lightnings, O thou Just!
Or I their force should know;
And, if thou strike me into dust,
My soul approves the blow.
The heart, that values less its ease
Than it adores thy ways,
In thine avenging anger sees
A subject of its praise.
Pleased I could lie, concealed and lost,
In shades of central night;
Not to avoid thy wrath, thou know'st,
But lest I grieve thy sight.
Smite me, O thou, whom I provoke!
And I will love thee still:
The well deserved and righteous stroke
Shall please me, though it kill.
Am I not worthy to sustain
The worst thou canst devise;
And dare I seek thy throne again,
And meet thy sacred eyes?
Far from afflicting, thou art kind;
And, in my saddest hours,
An unction of thy grace I find,
Pervading all my powers.
Alas! thou sparest me yet again;
And, when thy wrath should move,
Too gentle to endure my pain,
Thou soothest me with thy love.
I have no punishment to fear;
But, ah! that smile from thee
Imparts a pang far more severe
Than woe itself would be.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD XEXE FGFG HIJI KLKL JXHX MNMN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (88%) |
Metre | 11110111 111111 01111011 110101 01110111 110111 01010101 001111 11110101 011101 110111111 111111 11111101 011111 01010101 111111 11110101 011101 01111101 011101 11010111 0011010 1111111 0101110 01111101 011111 11010111 111111 11110011 111111 01011101 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 971 |
Words | 191 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 96 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 57 sec read
- 169 Views
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