Analysis of Jehovah-Nissi. The Lord My Banner

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



By whom was David taught
To aim the deadly blow,
When he Goliath fought,
And laid the Gittite low?
Nor sword nor spear the stripling took,
But chose a pebble from the brook.

'Twas Israel's God and King
Who sent him to the fight;
Who gave him strength to sling,
And skill to aim aright.
Ye feeble saints, your strength endures,
Because young David's God is yours.

Who order'd Gideon forth,
To storm the invaders' camp.
With arms of little worth,
A pitcher and a lamp?
The trumpets made his coming known
And all the host was overthrown.

Oh! I have seen the day,
When with a single word,
God helping me to say,
"My trust is in the Lord,"
My soul hath quell'd a thousand foes
Fearless of all that could oppose.

But unbelief, self-will,
Self-righteousness, and pride,
How often do they steal
My weapon from my side!
Yet David's Lord, and Gideon's friend,
Will help his servant to the end.


Scheme ABABCC DXDAEE XFXFGG HXHXII XJXJKK
Poetic Form Etheree  (30%)
Metre 111101 110101 110101 01011 11110101 11010101 110101 111101 111111 01111 11011101 01110111 1101001 1100101 111101 010001 01011101 0101101 111101 110101 110111 111001 11110101 10111101 1111 110001 110111 110111 1101011 11110101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 909
Words 168
Sentences 13
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 136
Words per stanza (avg) 32
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

51 sec read
90

William Cowper

William Macquarie Cowper was an Australian Anglican archdeacon and Dean of Sydney. more…

All William Cowper poems | William Cowper Books

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