Hymns and Tunes 1876 22
Hymn 22
1BEFORE the gracious throne we bow
Of God's almighty Son ;
We here present the solemn vow,
And hymns of praise we sing.
2O Lord, while in thy house we kneel
With trust and holy fear ;
To mercy now thy throne reveal,
And lend a gracious ear.
3With fervor teach our hearts to pray,
And tune our lips to sing ;
Let no unhallowed thought or way
The sacrifice we bring.
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 8.6.8.6
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 60% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABAB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
BEFORE the gracious throne we bow˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
Of God's almighty Son ;˘/˘/˘/6B
We here present the solemn vow,˘//˘˘/˘/8A
And hymns of praise we sing.˘/˘/˘/6C
Verse 2
O Lord, while in thy house we kneel˘//˘//˘/8A
With trust and holy fear ;˘/˘/˘/6B
To mercy now thy throne reveal,˘/˘///˘/8A
And lend a gracious ear.˘/˘/˘/6B
Verse 3
With fervor teach our hearts to pray,˘/˘//˘/˘/9A
And tune our lips to sing ;˘//˘/˘/7B
Let no unhallowed thought or way/˘????/˘/9A
The sacrifice we bring.˘/˘/˘/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.