Hymns and Tunes 1876 226
I want a principle within
1I want a principle within Of jealous, godly fear; A sensibility of sin, A pain to feel it near; I want the first approach to feel Of pride or fond desire; To catch the wandering of my will, And quench the kindling fire.
2From thee that I no more may part, No more thy goodness grieve, The filial awe, the fleshly heart, The tender conscience give. Quick as the apple of an eye, O God, my conscience make; Awake my soul when sin is nigh, And keep it still awake.
3If to the right or left I stray, That moment, Lord, reprove; And let me weep my life away, For having grieved thy love. Oh, may the least omission pain My well-instructed soul! And drive me to the blood again, Which makes the wounded whole.
- Also sung to
- Mount Bethel (Hymns and Tunes 1886 #486)
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 59
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 51% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- A
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
Verse 2
Verse 3
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.