Hymns and Tunes 1876 497
Hymn 497
1THE Saviour kindly calls
Our children to his breast ;
He folds them in his gracious arms ;
Himself declares them blest.
2Let them approach, he cries,
Nor scorn their humble claim ;
The heirs of Heaven are such as these ;
For such as these I came.
3With joy we bring them, Lord,
Devoting them to thee ;
Imploring that, as we are thine,
Thine may our offspring be.
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 7.7.8.6
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 48% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABCB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
THE Saviour kindly calls˘/˘˘/˘/7A
Our children to his breast ;/˘/˘˘˘/7B
He folds them in his gracious arms ;˘/˘˘˘/˘/8C
Himself declares them blest.˘/˘/˘/6B
Verse 2
Let them approach, he cries,/˘˘/˘/6A
Nor scorn their humble claim ;˘/˘/˘/6B
The heirs of Heaven are such as these ;˘/˘/˘˘/˘˘9C
For such as these I came.˘/˘˘˘/6B
Verse 3
With joy we bring them, Lord,˘/˘/˘/6A
Devoting them to thee ;˘/˘˘˘/6B
Imploring that, as we are thine,//˘˘˘˘˘/8C
Thine may our offspring be./˘/˘//˘7B
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.