Hymns and Tunes 1876 45
Hymn 45
1TO thee this temple we devote,
Our Father and our God ;
Accept it follow and allow,
Thy Spirit's blest abode.
2Here may the prayer of faith ascend,
The voice of praise be heard ;
May grace and glory here descend,
Accepted sacrifice.
3Here may the sinner learn his guilt,
And weep before thy throne ;
Here may the penitent be built
And here his vows record.
4Prosperity to these sacred walls,
Prosperity be here ;
Oh, smile upon thy people, Lord,
And evermore be near.
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 8.8.8.6
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 67% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABAC
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
TO thee this temple we devote,˘/˘/˘˘˘/8A
Our Father and our God ;/˘/˘˘/˘/8B
Accept it follow and allow,˘/˘/˘˘˘/8C
Thy Spirit's blest abode.//˘/˘/6D
Verse 2
Here may the prayer of faith ascend,/˘˘/˘/˘/8A
The voice of praise be heard ;˘/˘/˘/6B
May grace and glory here descend,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
Accepted sacrifice.˘/˘/˘/6C
Verse 3
Here may the sinner learn his guilt,/˘˘/˘/˘/8A
And weep before thy throne ;˘/˘///6B
Here may the penitent be built/˘˘/˘˘˘/8A
And here his vows record.˘/˘/˘/6C
Verse 4
Prosperity to these sacred walls,˘/˘˘˘˘/˘/9A
Prosperity be here ;˘/˘˘˘/6B
Oh, smile upon thy people, Lord,˘/˘///˘/8C
And evermore be near.˘/˘/˘/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.