Lines 5-12 Summary

Lines 5-8

   A HEART alone
   Is such a stone,
   As nothing but
   Thy pow'r doth cut.

• Now we're in the middle of the "altar" (i.e., in the middle of the poem and its shape), and the speaker uses a metaphor to describe the heart in more detail. 
• The heart is a kind of stone, and the only thing that could have "cut" it, or shaped it to be the way it is, is God's power. In other words, the heart is unique and so special that only God could have made it.
• This is a way of saying that all things come from God. He made them all, and they all show the sings of his craftsmanship, his tools, his cutting. 
• Altars used to be made out of stones. Recall that, in Exodus 20:25, God describes what stones should and shouldn't be used in the construction of altars. The speaker has already mentioned that he's building an altar out of his heart, and here he elaborates further.
• He's essentially telling us here that the heart is also a type of stone that can be used to build altars, and that it is a kind of stone that complies with the altar-building regulations.
• It hasn't been "cut" or manipulated by anybody but God. Remember, Exodus 20:25 says that no "hewn" stones should be used in the construction of altars. No workmen are to do anything whatsoever to the stones that are used to build the altar.
• Just like he did earlier, the speaker is again letting everybody know, including God, that he is playing by the rules. 
• He's not just playing by biblical rules, however, but poetic rules.
• These lines are much shorter than lines 1-4, but the speaker still uses regular, perfect iambs.
• This time, however, there are only two beats per line, making these examples of iambic dimeter ("di-" means—you guessed it—two). 
• Before we go on, we just want to point out how neat it is that the word "HEART" shows up in all capital letters right in the… heart of the poem. 
• The importance of the heart to the proper worship of God is emphasized by its placement in big, bold letters right in the middle of the "altar" (the shape).

Lines 9-12

   Wherefore each part
   Of my hard heart
   Meets in this frame
   To praise thy name

• The speaker continues with the "stone" metaphor and talks about how each "part" of his "hard heart" comes together to praise God.
• Okay, they don't just come together, they come together "in this frame" to praise Him. 
• "Frame" is one of the most important words in this poem, and we'll tell you why. Often, poets use this word to refer to the body. The word also refers to the poem itself—it is a "frame" or scaffold (an altar) of words that the poet has built.
• So, the speaker is saying that "each part" of his heart comes together to praise God's name, both in the poem and in real life (most likely). The poem-altar is a labor into which the speaker has put all of his heart, an idea we've already encountered.
• In the poems' first two lines, after all, the speaker has straight-up said that he was rearing an altar made out of a heart and cemented with tears. These lines reiterate that point, but also emphasize that the altar is both the speaker's offering of himself and the poem itself.
• We've got a poem-heart-altar on our hands here.
• Okay, okay, we know this is kind of confusing and complicated and, yeah, just a wee bit bizarre. 
• Then again, we're dealing with a poem that is attempting to discuss a mysterious and difficult spiritual concept (the construction of metaphorical altars to praise God). It makes sense that things are a little confusing. 
• Anyway, let's keep moving forward to see if the speaker sheds any more light on some of the confusions we're dealing with here.