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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1876 306

O happy day! that bursts the tomb

Studio

1O happy day! that bursts the tomb, And sets the joyful pris'ners free; That lifts the saints from death and gloom, To light and immortality.

RefrainHappy day! happy day! For thee we'll watch and pray; We bid thy hours no more delay; Oh! chase the shadows all away, Happy day! happy day! For thee we'll watch and pray.

2O happy day! when Jesus comes, The righteous foes shall bloom again; The desert closes shall surrender, Nor death e'er fread their wide domain.

3O happy day! when far around, Through all this universal frame, One glorious anthem shall resound, Of blessing to Jehovah's name.

4O happy day! that knows no night; Nor sorrow with thy joy shall blend; No clouds shall mar its sacred light, Thy scenes of glory ne'er shall end.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
32
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 65% of beats fit
Rhyme
A
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

O happy day! that bursts the tomb, And sets the joyful pris'ners free; That lifts the saints from death and gloom, To light and immortality.˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘??/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘˘32A

Verse 2

O happy day! when Jesus comes, The righteous foes shall bloom again; The desert closes shall surrender, Nor death e'er fread their wide domain.˘/˘///˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘˘˘/˘˘///˘/˘/33A

Verse 3

O happy day! when far around, Through all this universal frame, One glorious anthem shall resound, Of blessing to Jehovah's name.˘/˘///˘///˘/˘/˘///˘˘/˘˘//˘/˘˘˘/˘/33A

Verse 4

O happy day! that knows no night; Nor sorrow with thy joy shall blend; No clouds shall mar its sacred light, Thy scenes of glory ne'er shall end.˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘˘//˘/˘/˘/˘/˘///˘/˘/˘/32A

Refrain

Happy day! happy day! For thee we'll watch and pray; We bid thy hours no more delay; Oh! chase the shadows all away, Happy day! happy day! For thee we'll watch and pray./˘//˘/˘///˘/˘///˘˘/˘/˘/˘///˘//˘//˘/˘///˘/41A

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.