This is an analysis of the poem Olney Hymn 9: The Contrite Heart that begins with:

The Lord will happiness divine
On contrite hearts bestow; ... 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 acac dddd beXe bebe fgfg
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 01010001 101101 11110101 001111 11110101 010011 01011101 011101 10111101 011011 11010101 010110 110101111 111111 11111110 110101 11110011 111101 11111101 111101 11010111 010111 10001101 110000
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 121
  • Average number of words per stanza: 23
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 30 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

    The author used the same word i at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

  • summary of Olney Hymn 9: The Contrite Heart;
  • 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