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Hymns and Tunes 1876 127

Hymn 127

1SINNERS, haste to mercy's gate,
Strive, oh ! strive to enter there ;
Hasten, lest ye come too late,
Lest in vain shall be your prayer.

2Soon the Saviour will arise,
And forever shut the door ;
Hopeless then will be your cries ;
Mercy's day will be no more.

3From his glorious seat within,
Zion's King no living foot,
Then will say, Ye slaves of sin,
Hence depart, I know you not.

4Oh ! the anguish of that word :
Anguish which no measure knows ;
Sinners, haste to seek the Lord,
Ere the door of mercy close.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter: 7.7.7.7
Foot: trochaic (DUM-da) · 73% of beats fit
Rhyme: ABAB

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

SINNERS, haste to mercy's gate,/˘/˘/˘/7A

Strive, oh ! strive to enter there ;/˘/˘/˘/7B

Hasten, lest ye come too late,/˘/////7A

Lest in vain shall be your prayer./˘/˘˘˘/7B

Verse 2

Soon the Saviour will arise,/˘/˘˘˘˘/8A

And forever shut the door ;˘˘/˘/˘/7B

Hopeless then will be your cries ;/˘/˘˘˘/7A

Mercy's day will be no more./˘/˘˘˘/7B

Verse 3

From his glorious seat within,˘˘/˘˘/˘/8A

Zion's King no living foot,/˘/˘/˘/7B

Then will say, Ye slaves of sin,/˘///˘/7A

Hence depart, I know you not./˘/˘/˘˘7C

Verse 4

Oh ! the anguish of that word :˘˘/˘˘˘/7A

Anguish which no measure knows ;/˘˘˘/˘/7B

Sinners, haste to seek the Lord,/˘/˘/˘/7C

Ere the door of mercy close./˘/˘/˘/7D

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.