Once in a Saintly Passion

James Thomson 1700 (Port Glasgow) – 1748 (London)



Once in a saintly passion
I cried with desperate grief,
"O Lord, my heart is black with guile,
Of sinners I am chief."
Then stooped my guardian angel
And whispered from behind,
"Vanity, my little man,
You're nothing of the kind."

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

13 sec read
254

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCBDEFE
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 237
Words 45
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 8

James Thomson

James Thomson, who wrote under the pseudonym Bysshe Vanolis, was a Scottish Victorian-era poet famous primarily for the long poem The City of Dreadful Night, an expression of bleak pessimism in a dehumanized, uncaring urban environment. more…

All James Thomson poems | James Thomson Books

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    "Once in a Saintly Passion" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/20670/once-in-a-saintly-passion>.

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