Prayer, in the Prospect of Death
O Thou unknown, Almighty CauseOf all my hope and fear!In whose dread presence, ere an hour,Perhaps I must appear!
If I have wander’d in those pathsOf life I ought to shun,As something, loudly, in my breast,Remonstrates I have done;
Thou know’st that Thou hast formed meWith passions wild and strong;And list’ning to their witching voiceHas often led me wrong.
Where human weakness has come short,Or frailty stept aside,Do Thou, All-Good—for such Thou art—In shades of darkness hide.
Where with intention I have err’d,No other plea I have,But, Thou art good; and Goodness stillDelighteth to forgive.
Words in this poem
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- witching a.
- That witches or enchants; suited to enchantment or witchcraft; bewitching.
- frailty n.
- The condition quality of being frail, physically, mentally, or morally, frailness; infirmity; weakness of resolution; liableness to be deceived or seduced. [OE. frelete, freilte, OF. fraileté, fr. L. fragilitas. See Frail, a., and cf. Fragility.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Prayer, in the Prospect of Death is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, Project Gutenberg ebook #1279; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Burns, Prayer, in the Prospect of Death, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/prayer-in-the-prospect-of-death.html, id L02934.
Form and metre
Prayer, in the Prospect of Death is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common 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 -A-A cause · fearA · hour · appearA
- 2 -A-A paths · shunA · breast · doneA
- 3 -A-A me · strongA · voice · wrongA
- 4 -A-A short · asideA · art · hideA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O Thou unknown, Almighty Cause | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Of all my hope and fear! | 6 | ······ |
| In whose dread presence, ere an hour, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Perhaps I must appear! | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| If I have wander’d in those paths | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of life I ought to shun, | 6 | ······ |
| As something, loudly, in my breast, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Remonstrates I have done; | 6 | ······ |
| Thou know’st that Thou hast formed me | 8 | ······˘· |
| With passions wild and strong; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And list’ning to their witching voice | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Has often led me wrong. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Where human weakness has come short, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Or frailty stept aside, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Do Thou, All-Good—for such Thou art— | 8 | ········ |
| In shades of darkness hide. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Where with intention I have err’d, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| No other plea I have, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But, Thou art good; and Goodness still | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Delighteth to forgive. | 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.