Analysis of Watching Unto God In The Night Season
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
Sleep at last has fled these eyes,
Nor do I regret his flight,
More alert my spirits rise,
And my heart is free and light.
Nature silent all around,
Not a single witness near;
God as soon as sought is found;
And the flame of love burns clear.
Interruption, all day long,
Checks the current of my joys;
Creatures press me with a throng,
And perplex me with their noise.
Undisturbed I muse all night,
On the first Eternal Fair;
Nothing there obstructs delight,
Love is renovated there.
Life, with its perpetual stir,
Proves a foe to love and me;
Fresh entanglements occur--
Comes the night, and sets me free.
Never more, sweet sleep, suspend
My enjoyments, always new:
Leave me to possess my friend;
Other eyes and hearts subdue.
Hush the world, that I may wake
To the taste of pure delights;
Oh the pleasures I partake--
God, the partner of my nights!
David, for the selfsame cause,
Night preferred to busy day;
Hearts whom heavenly beauty draws,
Wish the glaring sun away.
Sleep, self–lovers, is for you--
Souls that love celestial know
Fairer scenes by night can view
Than the sun could ever show.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF BGBG HIHI JKJK LMLM XNXN KOKO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1111111 1110111 1011101 0111101 1010101 1010101 1111111 0011111 010111 1010111 1011101 0011111 011111 1010101 1010101 111001 11101001 1011101 1010001 1010111 1011101 101011 1110111 1010101 1011111 1011101 1010101 1010111 101011 1011101 11100101 1010101 1110111 1110101 1011111 1011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,074 |
Words | 198 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 95 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 41 Views
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"Watching Unto God In The Night Season" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40250/watching-unto-god-in-the-night-season>.
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