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Advent Hymnals

Church Hymnal 47

Father in Heaven, the Night Is Now

Words: [unclear]Music: [unclear]Tune: [unclear]C.M.

Studio

1Father in heaven, the night is now
O'er all the earth descending;
The weary find in slumber sweet
Their daily labors ending.

2But we would lift our hearts to Thee,
Our Father and Defender;
O let our evening prayer arise,
A sweet and pure oblation.

3Look down upon us from Thy throne,
With mercy and compassion;
O guard our sleep and bless our rest
With Thy divine protection.

4And when the morn shall bid us wake
To run our daily races,
May we arise with hearts renewed
And joy upon our faces.

Words
[unclear]
Music
[unclear]
Tune
[unclear]
Meter
C.M.
Scripture
Psalm 4:8; Psalm 91:11

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.7.8.7 · the hymnal prints C.M.
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 83% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABCB

Could also be sung to Azmon, Coronation, Ortonville, Cantate Domino, Christmas · same meter and stresses; not printed with these words, so try it first.

Scan every line

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

Verse 1

Father in heaven, the night is now/˘˘/˘/˘/8A*
O'er all the earth descending;//˘/˘/˘7B
The weary find in slumber sweet˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
Their daily labors ending.˘/˘/˘/˘7B

Verse 2

But we would lift our hearts to Thee,˘˘˘/˘/˘/8A
Our Father and Defender;˘/˘˘˘/˘7B
O let our evening prayer arise,˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
A sweet and pure oblation.˘/˘/???7D

Verse 3

Look down upon us from Thy throne,//˘/˘˘//8A
With mercy and compassion;˘/˘˘˘/˘7B
O guard our sleep and bless our rest˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
With Thy divine protection.˘/˘/˘/˘7D

Verse 4

And when the morn shall bid us wake˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
To run our daily races,˘/˘/˘/˘7B
May we arise with hearts renewed˘˘˘/˘/˘/8C
And joy upon our faces.˘/˘/˘/˘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.