Hymns and Tunes 1886 176
How precious is the book divine
Words: John Fawcett179, 227, 147
1How precious is the book divine
By inspiration given!
Bright as a lamp its doctrines shine,
To guide our souls to heaven.
2It sweetly cheers our drooping hearts
In this dark vale of tears;
And life and light and joy imparts,
To banish all our fears.
3This lamp, through all the tedious night
Of life, shall guide our way,
Till we behold the clearer light
Of an eternal day.
- Words
- John Fawcett
- Meter
- 179, 227, 147
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 8.7.8.8 · the hymnal prints 179, 227, 147
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 50% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABAC
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
How precious is the book divine//˘˘˘/˘/8A
By inspiration given!˘/˘/˘/˘7B
Bright as a lamp its doctrines shine,/˘˘/˘/˘/8A
To guide our souls to heaven.˘//˘/˘/˘8C
Verse 2
It sweetly cheers our drooping hearts˘/˘//˘/˘/9A
In this dark vale of tears;˘˘//˘/6B
And life and light and joy imparts,˘/˘/˘///8A
To banish all our fears.˘/˘//˘/7C
Verse 3
This lamp, through all the tedious night˘///˘/˘˘/9A
Of life, shall guide our way,˘/˘//˘/7B
Till we behold the clearer light/˘˘/˘/˘/8A
Of an eternal day.˘˘˘/˘/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.