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Advent Hymnals

Christ in Song 555

Be on Thy Guard

Words: G. J. WebbMusic: G. J. Webb

Studio

1Be on thy guard, be watchful still, Be on thy guard, be watchful still;
And be on thy guard, though thousand foes Assail thee on thy way, be on thy guard.

2Be on thy guard, be watchful still, Be on thy guard, be watchful still;
Though none can harm thee, yet beware, Be on thy guard, though none can harm thee.

3Be on thy guard, be watchful still, Be on thy guard, be watchful still;
Thy vigilance can never cease, Be on thy guard, thy vigilance can never cease.

4Be on thy guard, be watchful still, Be on thy guard, be watchful still;
Thy armor never lay aside, Be on thy guard, thy armor never lay aside.

The verse

Meter
16.19
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 55% of beats fit
Rhyme
AB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Be on thy guard, be watchful still, Be on thy guard, be watchful still;˘˘//˘/˘/˘˘//˘/˘/16A
And be on thy guard, though thousand foes Assail thee on thy way, be on thy guard.˘˘˘////˘/˘//˘//˘˘//19B

Verse 2

Be on thy guard, be watchful still, Be on thy guard, be watchful still;˘˘//˘/˘/˘˘//˘/˘/16A
Though none can harm thee, yet beware, Be on thy guard, though none can harm thee.//˘///˘/˘˘////˘//17B

Verse 3

Be on thy guard, be watchful still, Be on thy guard, be watchful still;˘˘//˘/˘/˘˘//˘/˘/16A
Thy vigilance can never cease, Be on thy guard, thy vigilance can never cease.//˘˘˘/˘/˘˘////˘˘˘/˘/20B

Verse 4

Be on thy guard, be watchful still, Be on thy guard, be watchful still;˘˘//˘/˘/˘˘//˘/˘/16A
Thy armor never lay aside, Be on thy guard, thy armor never lay aside.//˘/˘/˘/˘˘////˘/˘/˘/20B

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.