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Hymns and Tunes 1876 488

Hymn 488

1GOD of the morning, at thy voice
The cheerful sun speeds to its place,
And calls the nations to rejoice
To run his journey through the skies.

2Oh ! like the sun may I fulfill
Th' appointed duties of the day ;
With ready mind and active will
March on and keep my heavenly way.

3Lord, thy commands are clean and pure,
Enlightening our beclouded eyes ;
Thy threatenings just, thy promise sure ;
Thy gospel makes the simple wise.

4Give me thy counsels for my guide,
And then receive me to thy bliss ;
All my desires and hopes beside
Are faint and cold compared with this.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter: 8.8.8.8
Foot: iambic (da-DUM) · 53% of beats fit
Rhyme: ABAB

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

GOD of the morning, at thy voice/˘˘/˘˘//8A

The cheerful sun speeds to its place,˘/˘//˘˘/8B

And calls the nations to rejoice˘/˘/˘˘˘/8A

To run his journey through the skies.˘/˘/˘/˘/8C

Verse 2

Oh ! like the sun may I fulfill˘/˘/˘˘˘/8A

Th' appointed duties of the day ;˘/˘/˘˘˘/8B

With ready mind and active will˘/˘/˘/˘˘8A

March on and keep my heavenly way./˘˘/˘/˘˘/9B

Verse 3

Lord, thy commands are clean and pure,//˘/˘/˘/8A

Enlightening our beclouded eyes ;//˘˘/˘???/10B

Thy threatenings just, thy promise sure ;//˘˘///˘/9A

Thy gospel makes the simple wise.//˘/˘/˘/8B

Verse 4

Give me thy counsels for my guide,/˘//˘˘˘/8A

And then receive me to thy bliss ;˘/˘/˘˘//8B

All my desires and hopes beside/˘˘/˘˘/˘/9A

Are faint and cold compared with this.˘/˘/˘/˘˘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.