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Advent Hymnals

Christ in Song 739

We Would Not Weep

Words: Julia A. CarneyMusic: J. H. Rosecrans

Studio

1Dear as thou wert, and just-ly dear, We would not weep for thee;
One thought shall check the start-ing tear, It is that thou art free.
And thus we mourn-ing mor-tals here, The lim-it of our woe;
Why should we give one need-less tear, Or heave one use-less sigh?

2We would not call thee from the verge Of that ce-les-tial shore;
We would not drag thee back to urge The toil-some jour-ney o'er.
And thus we mourn-ing mor-tals here, The lim-it of our woe;
Why should we give one need-less tear, Or heave one use-less sigh?

3Rest, spir-it, rest! 'twas God who gave, And God who took a-way;
And when this fleet-ing life is o'er, We hope to meet thee there.
And thus we mourn-ing mor-tals here, The lim-it of our woe;
Why should we give one need-less tear, Or heave one use-less sigh?

Copyright 1900 by F. E. Belden

The verse

Meter
14.14.15.14
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 63% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABCD
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Dear as thou wert, and just-ly dear, We would not weep for thee;/˘//˘/˘/˘˘˘/˘/14A
One thought shall check the start-ing tear, It is that thou art free.//˘/˘/˘/˘˘˘///14A
And thus we mourn-ing mor-tals here, The lim-it of our woe;˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘˘/˘/15B
Why should we give one need-less tear, Or heave one use-less sigh?/˘˘///˘/˘///˘/14C

Verse 2

We would not call thee from the verge Of that ce-les-tial shore;˘˘˘//˘˘/˘˘˘/˘/14A
We would not drag thee back to urge The toil-some jour-ney o'er.˘˘˘///˘/˘??/˘/14B
And thus we mourn-ing mor-tals here, The lim-it of our woe;˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘˘/˘/15C
Why should we give one need-less tear, Or heave one use-less sigh?/˘˘///˘/˘///˘/14D

Verse 3

Rest, spir-it, rest! 'twas God who gave, And God who took a-way;//˘///˘/˘/˘/˘/14A
And when this fleet-ing life is o'er, We hope to meet thee there.˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘///14B
And thus we mourn-ing mor-tals here, The lim-it of our woe;˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘˘/˘/15C
Why should we give one need-less tear, Or heave one use-less sigh?/˘˘///˘/˘///˘/14D

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.