Analysis of Psalm 73 part 1
Isaac Watts 1674 (Southampton, Hampshire) – 1748 (Stoke Newington, Middlesex)
Afflicted saints happy, and prosperous sinners cursed.
Now I'm convinced the Lord is kind
To men of heart sincere;
Yet once my foolish thoughts repined,
And bordered on despair.
I grieved to see the wicked thrive,
And spoke with angry breath,
"How pleasant and profane they live!
How peaceful is their death!
"With well-fed flesh and haughty eyes,
They lay their fears to sleep;
Against the heav'ns their slanders rise,
While saints in silence weep.
"In vain I lift my hands to pray,
And cleanse my heart in vain;
For I am chastened all the day,
The night renews my pain."
Yet while my tongue indulged complaints,
I felt my heart reprove,-
"Sure I shall thus offend thy saints,
And grieve the men I love."
But still I found my doubts too hard,
The conflict too severe,
Till I retired to search thy word,
And learn thy secrets there.
There, as in some prophetic glass,
I saw the sinner's feet
High mounted on a slipp'ry place,
Beside a fiery pit.
I heard the wretch profanely boast,
Till at thy frown he fell;
His honors in a dream were lost,
And he awakes in hell.
Lord, what an envious fool I was!
How like a thoughtless beast!
Thus to suspect thy promised grace,
And think the wicked blest.
Yet I was kept from full despair,
Upheld by power unknown;
That blessed hand that broke the snare
Shall guide me to thy throne.
Scheme | A XBAC DEDE FGFG HIHI JDJX XBXC XXKX XLXL XXKX CMCM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101100100101 11010111 111101 1111011 010101 11110101 011101 11000111 110111 11110101 111111 01011101 110101 01111111 011101 11110101 010111 11110101 11111 11110111 010111 11111111 010101 11011111 011101 11010101 11011 1101011 0101001 110111 111111 11000101 01101 111100111 110101 11011101 010101 11111101 0111001 1111101 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,288 |
Words | 246 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 41 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 93 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:14 min read
- 70 Views
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"Psalm 73 part 1" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/19811/psalm-73-part-1>.
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