Analysis of Olney Hymn 43: Prayer For Patience
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
Lord, who hast suffer'd all for me,
My peace and pardon to procure,
The lighter cross I bear for Thee,
Help me with patience to endure.
The storm of loud repining hush;
I would in humble silence mourn;
Why should the unburnt, though burning bush,
Be angry as the crackling thorn?
Man should not faint at Thy rebuke,
Like Joshua falling on his face,
When the cursed thing that Achan took
Brought Israel into just disgrace.
Perhaps some golden wedge suppress'd,
Some secret sin offends my God;
Perhaps that Babylonish vest,
Self-righteousness, provokes the rod.
Ah! were I buffeted all day,
Mock'd, crown'd with thorns and spit upon,
I yet should have no right to say,
My great distress is mine alone.
Let me not angrily declare
No pain was ever sharp like mine,
Nor murmur at the cross I bear,
But rather weep, remembering Thine.
Scheme | ABAB XCXC XDXD EFEF GXGX HIHI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (83%) |
Metre | 11110111 11010101 01011111 11110101 011111 11010101 11011101 11010101 11111101 110010111 1011111 110001101 01110101 11010111 01111 11000101 1010111 11110101 11111111 11011101 11110001 11110111 11010111 110101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 836 |
Words | 148 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 108 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 128 Views
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