Church Hymnal 48
Softly Now the Light of Day
Words: George Washington DoaneMusic: Carl Maria von WeberTune: Seymour7.7.7.7
1Softly now the light of day
Fades upon my sight away;
Free from care, from labor free,
Lord, I would commune with Thee.
2Thou, whose all-pervading eye
Naught escapes, without, within,
Pardon each infirmity,
Open fault and secret sin.
3Soon for me the light of day
Shall forever pass away;
Then, from sin and sorrow free,
Take me, Lord, to dwell with Thee.
4Thou who, sinless, yet hast known
All of man's infirmity;
Then, from Thine eternal throne,
Jesus, look with pitying eye.
- Music
- Carl Maria von Weber
- Tune
- Seymour
- Also sung to
- Merrial (Christ in Song #304)
- Meter
- 7.7.7.7
- Scripture
- Psalm 139:23-24; 1 John 1:9
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 7.7.7.7 · as printed
- Foot
- trochaic (DUM-da) · 84% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- AABB
Could also be sung to Llanfair, Alletta, Durham, Hart, Mercy · same meter and stresses; not printed with these words, so try it first.
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
Verse 2
Verse 3
Verse 4
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.