Analysis of On War

Augustus Montague Toplady 1740 (Farnham, Surrey) – 1778



Great God, whom heav'n, and earth, and sea.
With all their countless hosts, obey,
Upheld by whom the nations stand,
And empires fall at thy command:

Beneath thy long suspended ire
Let papal Antichrist expire;
Thy knowledge spread from sea to sea,
'Till every nation bows to thee.

Then shew thyself the prince of peace,
Make every hostile efforts cease:
All with thy sacred love inspire,
And burn their chariots in the fire.

In sunder break each warlike spear;
Let all the Saviour's liv'ry wear;
The universal Sabbath prove,
The utmost rest of Christian love!

The world shall then no discord know,
But hand in hand to Canaan go,
Jesus, the peaceful king, adore,
And learn the art of war no more.


Scheme AXBB CCAA DDCX XXXX EEFF
Poetic Form Quatrain  (40%)
Etheree  (30%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 11110101 11110101 01110101 010011101 01110101 110101 11011111 110010111 1110111 110010101 11110101 0111000010 0101111 110111 0010101 0111101 01111101 11011101 10010101 01011111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 683
Words 124
Sentences 6
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 109
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
120

Augustus Montague Toplady

Augustus Montague Toplady was an Anglican cleric and hymn writer. He was a major Calvinist opponent of John Wesley. He is best remembered as the author of the hymn "Rock of Ages". Three of his other hymns – "A Debtor to Mercy Alone", "Deathless Principle, Arise" and "Object of My First Desire" – are still occasionally sung today. more…

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