Olney Hymns · Chapter
The Tamed Lion explained
This poem uses the metaphor of a tamed lion to contrast the ability of humans to tame wild beasts with their own rebellious nature toward God.
What happens
This poem uses the metaphor of a tamed lion to contrast the ability of humans to tame wild beasts with their own rebellious nature toward God. It highlights the power of God's grace and the cross of Christ to subdue the hardest hearts, while acknowledging that the 'lion' of sin remains within believers, requiring ongoing divine intervention.
Themes in this chapter
Human Sinfulness and Depravity
The poem contrasts the tameable lion with the more fierce and unfeeling nature of man, who rebels against God despite being preserved and fed.
Grace and Unmerited Favor
The grace that saves is mentioned as in vain for the rebellious, yet the cross of Christ is shown to subdue the hardest heart, demonstrating the power of unmerited favor.
Characters to notice
- Jesus Christ
The Saviour whose power is proclaimed by angels and whose cross subdues the fiercest hearts.
- The Lord
The one who preserves and feeds man, yet is resisted by his rebellious will.
- The Narrator
The speaker who reflects on human sinfulness and prays for the lion within to be driven out or chained.
Key passages
“A lion, though by nature wild, The art of man can tame; lie stands before his keeper mild And gentle as a lamb.”
Even a wild lion can be tamed by human skill, becoming as gentle as a lamb before its keeper.
The opening stanza establishes the metaphor of the tamed lion.
“But man himself, who thus subdues The fiercest beasts of prey, A nature more unfeeling shows And far more fierce than they.”
Yet man, who can subdue the fiercest animals, displays a nature that is even more unfeeling and fierce than those beasts.
The poem contrasts human ability to tame animals with the untamed ferocity of human nature.
“The love thy bleeding cross displays The hardest heart subdues! Here furious lions, while they gaze, Their rage and fierceness lose.”
The love shown on the bleeding cross conquers the hardest heart; even furious lions lose their rage when they behold it.
The cross of Christ is presented as the ultimate power to transform the most rebellious sinner.
“Yet we are but renew'd in part, The lion still remains; Lord, drive him wholly from my heart, Or keep him fast in chains.”
We are only partially renewed; the lion of sin still remains. Lord, either completely remove it from my heart or keep it firmly bound.
The poem concludes with a prayer for complete sanctification or ongoing restraint of indwelling sin.