Hymns and Tunes 1876 47
Hymn 47
1'TWAS by an order from the Lord
The ancient prophets spoke his word ;
His Spirit did their tongues inspire,
And warmed their hearts with holy fire.
2Great God ! mine eyes with pleasure look
On the dear volume of thy book ;
There my Redeemer's face I see,
And read his name who died for me.
3Let the false raptures of the mind
Be lost, and vanish in the wind ;
Here I can fix my hope secure ;
This is thy word, and must endure.
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 8.8.8.9
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 60% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- AABB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
'TWAS by an order from the Lord/˘˘/˘˘˘/8A
The ancient prophets spoke his word ;˘/˘/˘/˘/8B
His Spirit did their tongues inspire,˘/˘˘˘///8C
And warmed their hearts with holy fire.˘/˘/˘/˘/˘9D
Verse 2
Great God ! mine eyes with pleasure look////˘/˘/8A
On the dear volume of thy book ;˘˘//˘˘//8A
There my Redeemer's face I see,/˘???/˘/8B
And read his name who died for me.˘/˘/˘/˘˘8B
Verse 3
Let the false raptures of the mind/˘//˘˘˘/8A
Be lost, and vanish in the wind ;˘/˘/˘˘˘/8A
Here I can fix my hope secure ;/˘˘/˘/˘/8B
This is thy word, and must endure.˘˘//˘/˘/8B
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.