Analysis of Olney Hymn 47: The Hidden Life

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



To tell the Saviour all my wants,
How pleasing is the task!
Nor less to praise Him when He grants
Beyond what I can ask.

My laboring spirit vainly seeks
To tell but half the joy,
With how much tenderness He speaks,
And helps me to reply.

Nor were it wise, nor should I choose,
Such secrets to declare;
Like precious wines their taste they lose,
Exposed to open air.

But this with boldness I proclaim,
Nor care if thousands hear,
Sweet is the ointment of His name,
Not life is half so dear.

And can you frown, my former friends,
Who knew what once I was,
And blame the song that thus commends
The Man who bore the cross?

Trust me, I draw the likeness true,
And not as fancy paints;
Such honor may He give to you,
For such have all His saints.


Scheme XAXA BXBX CDCD EXEX FXFX GHGH
Poetic Form Quatrain  (50%)
Metre 1101111 110101 11111111 011111 110010101 111101 11110011 011101 10111111 110101 11011111 011101 11110101 111101 11010111 111111 01111101 111111 01011101 011101 11110101 011101 11011111 111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 749
Words 147
Sentences 8
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
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 05, 2023

44 sec read
43

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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