Analysis of The Importunate Widow

John Newton 1725 (Wapping, London) – 1807 (London)



Our Lord, who knows full well
The heart of every saint;
Invites us, by a parable,
To pray and never faint.

He bows his gracious ear,
We never plead in vain;
Yet we must wait, till he appear,
And pray, and pray again.

Though unbelief suggest,
Why should we longer wait?
He bids us never give him rest,
But be importunate.

'Twas thus a widow poor,
Without support or friend,
Beset the unjust judge's door,
And gained, at last, her end.

For her he little cared,
As little for the laws;
Nor God, nor man, did he regard,
Yet he espoused her cause.

She urged him day and night,
Would no denial take;
At length he said, I'll do her right,
For my own quiet sake.

And shall not Jesus hear
His chosen, when they cry?
Yes, though he may awhile forbear,
He'll help them from on high.

His nature, truth and love,
Engage him on their side;
When they are grieved, his bowels move,
And can they be denied?

Then let us earnest be,
And never faint in prayer;
He loves our importunity,
And makes our cause his care.


Scheme XAXA BXXX CXCA XDXD XXXX EFEF BGBG XHXH XIAI
Poetic Form Quatrain  (78%)
Metre 1011111 0111001 01110100 110101 111101 110101 11111101 010101 1101 111101 11110111 111 110101 010111 01001101 011101 101101 110101 11111101 110101 111101 110101 11111101 111101 011101 110111 1111011 111111 110101 011111 11111101 011101 111101 010101 11101 0110111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 977
Words 192
Sentences 12
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 36
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 84
Words per stanza (avg) 21
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 02, 2023

58 sec read
90

John Newton

Rev Dr John A Newton CBE is a prominent Methodist minister, author, historian and former President of the Methodist Conference. more…

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