Confidence
Oppressed with sin and woe,A burdened heart I bear,Opposed by many a mighty foe;But I will not despair.
With this polluted heart,I dare to come to Thee,Holy and mighty as Thou art,For Thou wilt pardon me.
I feel that I am weak,And prone to every sin;But Thou who giv'st to those who seek,Wilt give me strength within.
Far as this earth may beFrom yonder starry skies;Remoter still am I from Thee:Yet Thou wilt not despise.
I need not fear my foes,I deed not yield to care;I need not sink beneath my woes,For Thou wilt answer prayer.
In my Redeemer's name,I give myself to Thee;And, all unworthy as I am,My God will cherish me.
Words in this poem
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Confidence is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, Project Gutenberg ebook #1019; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, Confidence, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/confidence.html, id L13288.
Form and metre
Confidence is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is short measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.6 syllables.
See other poems in short measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB woeA · bearB · foeA · despairB
- 2 ABAB heartA · theeB · artA · meB
- 3 ABAB weakA · sinB · seekA · withinB
- 4 ABAB beA · skiesB · theeA · despiseB
- 5 ABAB foesA · careB · woesA · prayerB
- 6 -A-A name · theeA · am · meA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against short measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Oppressed with sin and woe, | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| A burdened heart I bear, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Opposed by many a mighty foe; | 8 | ˘/·/·/˘· |
| But I will not despair. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| With this polluted heart, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| I dare to come to Thee, | 6 | ······ |
| Holy and mighty as Thou art, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| For Thou wilt pardon me. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I feel that I am weak, | 6 | ······ |
| And prone to every sin; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| But Thou who giv'st to those who seek, | 8 | ········ |
| Wilt give me strength within. | 6 | ······ |
| Far as this earth may be | 6 | ······ |
| From yonder starry skies; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Remoter still am I from Thee: | 8 | ········ |
| Yet Thou wilt not despise. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| I need not fear my foes, | 6 | ······ |
| I deed not yield to care; | 6 | ······ |
| I need not sink beneath my woes, | 8 | ········ |
| For Thou wilt answer prayer. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In my Redeemer's name, | 6 | ······ |
| I give myself to Thee; | 6 | ···/·· |
| And, all unworthy as I am, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| My God will cherish me. | 6 | ···/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.