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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1876 11

Great God, attend, while Zion sings

Studio

1Great God, attend, while Zion sings The joy that from thy presence springs; To spend one day with thee on earth Exceeds a thousand days of mirth.

2Might I enjoy the humblest place Within thy house, O God of grace, Not tents of ease, nor thrones of power, Should tempt my feet to leave thy door.

3God is our sun, he makes our day; God is our shield, he guards our way; From all assaults of hell and sin, From foes without and foes within.

4All needful grace will God bestow, And crown that grace with glory, too; He gives us all things, and withholds No real good from his household.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
32
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 50% of beats fit
Rhyme
A
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Great God, attend, while Zion sings The joy that from thy presence springs; To spend one day with thee on earth Exceeds a thousand days of mirth.//˘///˘/˘/˘˘//˘/˘///˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/32A

Verse 2

Might I enjoy the humblest place Within thy house, O God of grace, Not tents of ease, nor thrones of power, Should tempt my feet to leave thy door.˘˘//˘/˘˘/˘///˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘˘/˘/˘///34A

Verse 3

God is our sun, he makes our day; God is our shield, he guards our way; From all assaults of hell and sin, From foes without and foes within./˘/˘/˘//˘//˘/˘/˘//˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/36A

Verse 4

All needful grace will God bestow, And crown that grace with glory, too; He gives us all things, and withholds No real good from his household.//˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘//˘//˘//˘˘//31A

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.