Analysis of Looking Upwards in a Storm

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



God of my life, to Thee I call,
Afflicted at Thy feet I fall;
When the great water-floods prevail,
Leave not my trembling heart to fail!

Friend of the friendless and the faint,
Where should I lodge my deep complaint,
Where but with Thee, whose open door
Invites the helpless and the poor!

Did ever mourner plead with Thee,
And Thou refuse the mourner's plea?
Does not the word still fix'd remain,
That none shall seek Thy face in vain?

That were a grief I could not bear,
Didst Thou not hear and answer prayer:
But a prayer-hearing, answering God
Supports me under every load.

Fair is the lot that's cast for me;
I have an Advocate with Thee;
They whom the world caresses most
Have no such privilege to boast.

Poor though I am, despised, forgot,
Yet God, my God, forgets me not:
And he is safe, and must succeed,
For whom the Lord vouchsafes to plead.


Scheme AABB CCXX DDEE FFXX DDGG HHII
Poetic Form Quatrain  (67%)
Metre 11111111 01011111 10110101 111100111 1101001 11111101 11111101 01010001 11010111 0101011 11011101 11111101 10011111 11110101 101101001 011101001 11011111 11110011 11010101 1111011 11110101 11110111 01110101 1101111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 859
Words 160
Sentences 8
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 110
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

48 sec read
40

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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