Hymns and Tunes 1876 525
Hymn 525
1GOD moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
2Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.
3Ye fearful saints; fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings o'er your head.
4Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
- Also sung to
- Dundee (Hymns and Tunes 1886 #74)
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 9.6.8.6
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 62% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABCB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
GOD moves in a mysterious way,//˘˘˘/˘˘/9A
His wonders to perform;˘/˘˘˘/6B
He plants his footsteps in the sea,˘/˘//˘˘/8C
And rides upon the storm.˘/˘/˘/6B
Verse 2
Deep in unfathomable mines/˘˘/˘˘˘/8A
Of never-failing skill,˘????/6B
He treasures up his bright designs,˘/˘˘˘/˘/8A
And works his sovereign will.˘/˘/˘˘6B
Verse 3
Ye fearful saints; fresh courage take;//˘///˘/8A
The clouds ye so much dread˘//˘//6B
Are big with mercy, and shall break˘/˘/˘˘˘/8A
In blessings o'er your head.˘/˘/˘/6B
Verse 4
Blind unbelief is sure to err,/???˘/˘/8A
And scan his work in vain;˘/˘/˘/6B
God is his own interpreter,/˘˘///˘˘8C
And he will make it plain.˘˘˘/˘/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.