Hymns and Tunes 1886 182
There is an ancient, blessed book
Words: Samuel Stennet675, 448, 147
1There is an ancient, blessed book,
Sent down from ages to age;
Admiring angels bend to look
Upon its hallowed page.
2Preserved by wondrous care and skill,
For our instruction given;
It speaks of God, and shows his will,
And points the way to heaven.
3O let us seek for heavenly grace
To hear and read aright;
Till we behold the Saviour's face,
And faith gives place to sight.
- Words
- Samuel Stennet
- Meter
- 675, 448, 147
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 7.7.8.6 · the hymnal prints 675, 448, 147
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 65% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABAC
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
There is an ancient, blessed book,/˘˘/˘//7A
Sent down from ages to age;//˘/˘˘/7B
Admiring angels bend to look˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
Upon its hallowed page.˘/˘/˘/6B
Verse 2
Preserved by wondrous care and skill,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
For our instruction given;˘/˘//˘/˘8B
It speaks of God, and shows his will,˘/˘/˘/˘˘8A
And points the way to heaven.˘/˘/˘/˘7C
Verse 3
O let us seek for heavenly grace˘/˘/˘/˘˘/9A
To hear and read aright;˘/˘/??6B
Till we behold the Saviour's face,/˘˘/˘/˘˘/9A
And faith gives place to sight.˘///˘/6C
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.