Hymns and Tunes 1886 169
The heavens declare thy glory, Lord
Words: Anon5, 101, 398
1The heavens declare thy glory, Lord;
In every star thy wisdom shines;
But when our eyes behold thy word,
We read thy name in fairer lines.
2The rolling sun, the changing light,
And nights and days, thy power confess;
But the blest volume thou didst write,
Reveals thy justice and thy grace.
3Sun, moon, and stars convey thy praise
Round the whole earth, and never stand;
So, when thy truth began its race,
It touched and lightened every land.
- Words
- Anon
- Meter
- 5, 101, 398
- Scripture
- Psalm 19:1
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 9.9.9.8 · the hymnal prints 5, 101, 398
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 52% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABCB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
The heavens declare thy glory, Lord;˘/˘˘///˘/9A
In every star thy wisdom shines;˘/˘˘///˘/9B
But when our eyes behold thy word,˘//˘/˘///9C
We read thy name in fairer lines.˘///˘/˘/8B
Verse 2
The rolling sun, the changing light,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
And nights and days, thy power confess;˘/˘///˘˘/9B
But the blest volume thou didst write,˘˘//˘///8A
Reveals thy justice and thy grace.˘///˘˘//8C
Verse 3
Sun, moon, and stars convey thy praise//˘/˘///8A
Round the whole earth, and never stand;/˘//˘/˘/8B
So, when thy truth began its race,˘///˘/˘/8C
It touched and lightened every land.˘/˘/˘/˘˘/9B
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.