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Hymns and Tunes 1876 115

Hymn 115

1COME, humble sinner, in whose breast
A thousand thoughts revolve ;
Come, with your guilt and fear oppressed,
And make this last resolve ;

2I'll go to Jesus, though my sins
Like mountains round me close ;
I know his courts, I'll enter in,
Whatever may oppose.

3Prostrate, I'll lie before his throne,
And there my guilt confess ;
I'll tell him I'm a wretch undone,
Without his sov'reign grace.

4Perhaps he will admit my plea,
Perhaps will hear my prayer ;
But if I perish, I will pray,
And perish only there.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter: 8.6.8.6
Foot: iambic (da-DUM) · 73% of beats fit
Rhyme: ABCD

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

COME, humble sinner, in whose breast//˘/˘˘˘/8A

A thousand thoughts revolve ;˘/˘/˘/6B

Come, with your guilt and fear oppressed,/˘˘/˘/˘/8A

And make this last resolve ;˘/˘/˘/6B

Verse 2

I'll go to Jesus, though my sins//˘/˘/˘/8A

Like mountains round me close ;//˘/˘/6B

I know his courts, I'll enter in,˘/˘///˘˘8C

Whatever may oppose.//˘˘˘/6D

Verse 3

Prostrate, I'll lie before his throne,/˘//˘/˘/8A

And there my guilt confess ;˘/˘/˘/6B

I'll tell him I'm a wretch undone,//˘/˘/˘/8C

Without his sov'reign grace.˘/˘??/6D

Verse 4

Perhaps he will admit my plea,˘/˘˘˘/˘/8A

Perhaps will hear my prayer ;˘/˘/˘/6B

But if I perish, I will pray,˘˘˘/˘˘˘/8C

And perish only there.˘/˘/˘/6B

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.