Analysis of Submission

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



O Lord, my best desire fulfil,
And help me to resign
Life, health, and comfort to Thy will,
And make Thy pleasure mine.

Why whould I shrink at Thy command,
Whose love forbids my fears?
Or tremble at the gracious hand
That wipes away my tears?

No, rather let me freely yield
What most I prize to Thee;
Who never hast a good withheld,
Or wilt withhold, from me.

Thy favor, all my journey through,
Thou art engaged to grant;
What else I want, or think I do,
'Tis better still to want.

Wisdom and mercy guide my way,
Shall I resist them both?
A poor blind creature of day,
And crush'd before the moth!

But ah! my inward spirit cries,
Still binds me to Thy sway;
Else the next cloud that veils the skies
Drives all these thoughts away.


Scheme ABAB CXCX XDXD EXEX FXFX GFGF
Poetic Form Quatrain  (50%)
Metre 11110101 011101 11010111 011101 11111101 110111 11010101 110111 11011101 111111 11010101 110111 11011101 110111 11111111 110111 10010111 110111 0111011 010101 11110101 111111 10111101 111101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 738
Words 142
Sentences 10
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 94
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

42 sec read
80

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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