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Church Hymnal 21

My Gracious Lord, I Own Thy Right

Words: Philip DoddridgeMusic: [unclear]Tune: [unclear]C.M.

1My gracious Lord, I own Thy right
To every service I can pay,
And call it my supreme delight
To hear Thy dictates and obey.

2What is my being but for Thee,
Its sure support, its noblest end?
Thy ever-smiling face to see,
And serve the cause of such a Friend?

3I would not breathe for worldly joy,
Or to increase my worldly good,
Nor future days nor powers employ
To spread a sounding name abroad.

4'Tis to my Savior I would live,
To Him who for my ransom died;
Nor could all worldly honor give
Such bliss as crowns me at His side.

Words: Philip Doddridge
Music: [unclear]
Tune: [unclear]
Meter: C.M.
Scripture: Romans 12:1; 2 Corinthians 5:15

Public Domain

The verse

Meter: 8.8.8.8 · the hymnal prints C.M.
Foot: iambic (da-DUM) · 69% of beats fit
Rhyme: ABAB

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary · * a word sung short, as “heav’n”

Verse 1

My gracious Lord, I own Thy right˘/˘/˘///8A

To every service I can pay,˘/˘/˘˘˘/8B

And call it my supreme delight˘/˘˘˘/˘/8A

To hear Thy dictates and obey.˘//˘/˘˘/8B

Verse 2

What is my being but for Thee,˘˘˘/˘˘˘/8A

Its sure support, its noblest end?˘/˘/˘/˘/8B

Thy ever-smiling face to see,/????/˘/8A

And serve the cause of such a Friend?˘/˘/˘/˘/8B

Verse 3

I would not breathe for worldly joy,˘˘˘/˘/˘/8A

Or to increase my worldly good,˘˘//˘/˘/8B

Nor future days nor powers employ˘/˘/˘/˘/8A*

To spread a sounding name abroad.˘/˘/˘/˘/8C

Verse 4

'Tis to my Savior I would live,/˘˘/˘˘˘/8A

To Him who for my ransom died;˘˘˘˘˘/˘/8B

Nor could all worldly honor give˘˘//˘/˘/8C

Such bliss as crowns me at His side.//˘/˘˘˘/8B

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.