This is an analysis of the poem Olney Hymn 11: Jehovah Our Righteousness that begins with:

My God, how perfect are Thy ways!
But mine polluted are; ... full text

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

The information we provided is prepared by means of a special computer program. Use the criteria sheet to understand greatest poems or improve your poetry analysis essay.

  • Rhyme scheme: abab cccc dede fXfXXfcfc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11101111 110101 110010111 110011 11111111 011011 11011101 110110 010101101 110101 01010001 100101 01010011 110101 11010101 1100001 11000101 010101 01101100 010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 121
  • Average number of words per stanza: 22
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 30 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; my is repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word the is repeated.

If you write a school or university poetry essay, you should Include in your explanation of the poem:

  • summary of Olney Hymn 11: Jehovah Our Righteousness;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by William Cowper