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Christ in Song 398

THROW OUT THE LIFE-LINE!

Words: E. S. UffordMusic: E. S. Ufford

Studio

1Throw out the life-line a-cross the dark wave,
There is a broth-er whom some-one should save;
Some-body's broth-er! O who then will dare To throw out the life-line, his per-il to share?

RefrainThrow out the life-line! Throw out the life-line!
Some-one is drift-ing a-way;
Throw out the life-line! Throw out the life-line!
Some-one is sink-ing to-day.

2Throw out the life-line with hand quick and strong:
Why do you tar-ry, why lin-ger so long?
See! he is sink-ing; O be quick to save. Throw out the life-line and pull from the wave!

3Throw out the life-line to dan-ger-fraught men,
Sink-ing in an-guish where you've nev-er been:
Winds of temp-ta-tion and bil-lows of woe
Will soon hurl them out where the dark wa-ters flow.

4Soon will the sea-son of res-cue be o'er,
Soon will they drift to e-ter-ni-ty's shore;
Haste then, my broth-er, no time for de-lay,
But throw out the life-line and save them to-day.

The verse

Meter
10.10.21
Foot
dactylic (DUM-da-da) · 46% of beats fit
Rhyme
AAB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Throw out the life-line a-cross the dark wave,//˘//˘/˘//10A
There is a broth-er whom some-one should save;/˘˘/˘˘//˘/10A
Some-body's broth-er! O who then will dare To throw out the life-line, his per-il to share?//˘/˘˘˘/˘/˘//˘//˘/˘˘/21B

Verse 2

Throw out the life-line with hand quick and strong://˘//˘//˘/10A
Why do you tar-ry, why lin-ger so long?/˘˘/˘//˘˘/10A
See! he is sink-ing; O be quick to save. Throw out the life-line and pull from the wave!/˘˘/˘˘˘/˘///˘//˘/˘˘/20B

Verse 3

Throw out the life-line to dan-ger-fraught men,//˘//˘???/10A
Sink-ing in an-guish where you've nev-er been:/˘˘/˘///˘˘10B
Winds of temp-ta-tion and bil-lows of woe/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/10C
Will soon hurl them out where the dark wa-ters flow.˘//˘//˘//˘/11C

Verse 4

Soon will the sea-son of res-cue be o'er,/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/10A
Soon will they drift to e-ter-ni-ty's shore;/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/10B
Haste then, my broth-er, no time for de-lay,//˘/˘˘/˘˘/10C
But throw out the life-line and save them to-day.˘//˘//˘/˘˘/11C

Refrain

Throw out the life-line! Throw out the life-line!//˘////˘//10A
Some-one is drift-ing a-way;//˘/˘˘/7B
Throw out the life-line! Throw out the life-line!//˘////˘//10A
Some-one is sink-ing to-day.//˘/˘˘/7B

Counted by machine from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. It cannot hear emphasis or a poet’s licence, so treat it as a place to start reading, not the last word.