Hymns and Tunes 1886 145
Eternal Spirit, power of truth
Words: Isaac Watts
1Eternal Spirit, power of truth,
Our contrite hearts inspire;
Revive the flame of heav'nly love,
And feed the pure desire.
2'Tis thine to bid the sorrowing mind,
With guilt and fear oppressed;
'Tis thine to bid the dying live,
And give the weary rest.
3Subdue the power of every sin,
Whate'er that sin may be;
That we, in singleness of heart,
May worship only thee.
- Words
- Isaac Watts
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 9.7.8.7
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 65% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABCB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
Eternal Spirit, power of truth,˘/˘/˘/˘˘/9A
Our contrite hearts inspire;/˘˘////7B
Revive the flame of heav'nly love,˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
And feed the pure desire.˘/˘/˘/˘7D
Verse 2
'Tis thine to bid the sorrowing mind,//˘/˘/˘˘/9A
With guilt and fear oppressed;˘/˘/˘/6B
'Tis thine to bid the dying live,//˘/˘/˘/8C
And give the weary rest.˘/˘/˘/6B
Verse 3
Subdue the power of every sin,˘/˘/˘˘/˘˘/10A
Whate'er that sin may be;???˘/˘˘7B
That we, in singleness of heart,˘˘˘/˘˘˘/8C
May worship only thee.˘/˘/˘/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.