Hymns and Tunes 1876 126
Hymn 126
1AH ! whither should I go,
Burdened, and sick, and faint ?
To whom should I my trouble show,
And pour out my complaint ?
2My Saviour bids me come ;
Ah ! why do I delay ?
He calls the weary sinner home,
And yet from him I stay.
3What is it keeps me back,
From which I cannot part,
Which will not let my Saviour take
Possession of my heart ?
4I mourn, but not repent ;
Compassion reigns alone ;
According to my faith, to me
Oh, let it, Lord, be done !
- Also sung to
- Contrition (Hymns and Tunes 1886 #453)
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 6.6.8.6
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 59% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABCB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
AH ! whither should I go,//˘˘˘/6A
Burdened, and sick, and faint ?/˘˘/˘/6B
To whom should I my trouble show,˘˘˘˘˘/˘/8A
And pour out my complaint ?˘//˘˘/6B
Verse 2
My Saviour bids me come ;˘/˘˘/˘/7A
Ah ! why do I delay ?//˘˘˘/6B
He calls the weary sinner home,˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
And yet from him I stay.˘/˘˘˘/6B
Verse 3
What is it keeps me back,˘˘˘/˘/6A
From which I cannot part,˘˘˘/˘/6B
Which will not let my Saviour take˘˘˘/˘/˘˘/9C
Possession of my heart ?˘/˘˘˘/6B
Verse 4
I mourn, but not repent ;˘/˘˘˘/6A
Compassion reigns alone ;˘/˘/˘/6B
According to my faith, to me˘/˘˘˘/˘˘8C
Oh, let it, Lord, be done !˘/˘/˘/6D
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.