Analysis of Mourning and Longing

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



The Saviour hides His face;
My spirit thirsts to prove
Renew'd supplies of pardoning grace,
And never-fading love.

The favor'd souls who know
What glories shine in Him,
Pant for His presence as the roe
Pants for the living stream.

What trifles tease me now!
They swarm like summer flies!
They cleave to everything I do,
And swim before my eyes.

How dull the Sabbath day,
Without the Sabbath's Lord!
How toilsome then to sing and pray,
And wait upon the Word!

Of all the truths I hear,
How few delight my taste!
I glean a berry here and there,
But mourn the vintage past.

Yet let me (as I ought)
Still hope to be supplied;
No pleasure else is worth a thought,
Nor shall I be denied.

Though I am but a worm,
Unworthy of His care,
The Lord will my desire perform,
And grant me all my prayer.


Scheme AXAX BXBX XCXC DXDX XXEX FGFG XEXE
Poetic Form Quatrain  (43%)
Metre 01111 110111 010111001 010101 010111 110101 11110101 110101 110111 111101 1111011 010111 110101 01011 1111101 010101 110111 110111 11010101 110101 111111 111101 11011101 111101 111101 010111 011101001 011111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 796
Words 152
Sentences 12
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 87
Words per stanza (avg) 21
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

46 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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