Analysis of A Child Of God Longing To See Him Beloved

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



There's not an echo round me,
But I am glad should learn,
How pure a fire has found me,
The love with which I burn.
For none attends with pleasure
To what I would reveal;
They slight me out of measure,
And laugh at all I feel.

The rocks receive less proudly
The story of my flame;
When I approach, they loudly
Reverberate his name.
I speak to them of sadness,
And comforts at a stand;
They bid me look for gladness,
And better days at hand.

Far from all habitation,
I heard a happy sound;
Big with the consolation,
That I have often found.
I said, 'My lot is sorrow,
My grief has no alloy;
The rocks replied--'Tomorrow,
Tomorrow brings thee joy.'

These sweet and sacred tidings,
What bliss it is to hear!
For, spite of all my chidings,
My weakness and my fear,
No sooner I receive them,
Than I forget my pain,
And, happy to believe them,
I love as much again.

I fly to scenes romantic,
Where never men resort;
For in an age so frantic
Impiety is sport.
For riot and confusion
They barter things above;
Condemning, as delusion,
The joy of perfect love.

In this sequestered corner,
None hears what I express;
Delivered from the scorner,
What peace do I possess!
Beneath the boughs reclining,
Or roving o'er the wild,
I live as undesigning
And harmless as a child.

No troubles here surprise me,
I innocently play,
While Providence supplies me,
And guards me all the day:
My dear and kind defender
Preserves me safely here,
From men of pomp and splendour,
Who fill a child with fear.


Scheme ABABCDCD AEAEFGFG HIHIXJCJ XKFLMXMX NONOHPHP CQCQXRNR ASASCKCL
Poetic Form
Metre 1111011 111111 11010111 011111 1101110 111101 1111110 011111 0101110 010111 1101110 010011 1111110 010101 111111 010111 111010 110101 110010 111101 1111110 11111 01011 01111 1101010 111111 111111 110011 1101011 110111 0101011 111101 1111010 110101 1011110 111 1100010 110101 0101010 011011 0101010 111101 010101 111101 0101010 1101001 1111 010101 1101011 110001 1100011 011101 1101010 011101 111101 110111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,432
Words 277
Sentences 14
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 56
Letters per line (avg) 20
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 164
Words per stanza (avg) 39
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:23 min read
94

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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