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Hymns and Tunes 1886 185

Let all the heathen writers join

Words: Anon439, 227, 167

1Let all the heathen writers join
To form one perfect book;
Great God, if once compared with thine,
How mean their writings look!

2Not the most perfect rules they gave
Could show one sin forgiven,
Nor lead a step beyond the grave;
But thine conducts to heaven.

3Yet men would fain by wisdom find
By works their hands have wrought;
But thy commands, exceeding broad,
Extend to every thought.

4Our faith, and love, and every grace
Full perfect with thy word;
But perfect truth and righteousness
Dwell only with the Lord.

Words: Anon
Meter: 439, 227, 167

Public Domain

The verse

Meter: 8.6.8.6 · the hymnal prints 439, 227, 167
Foot: iambic (da-DUM) · 58% of beats fit
Rhyme: ABCB

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Let all the heathen writers join//˘/˘/˘/8A

To form one perfect book;˘//˘//6B

Great God, if once compared with thine,//˘/˘/˘/8C

How mean their writings look!//˘/˘/6B

Verse 2

Not the most perfect rules they gave˘˘/˘//˘/8A

Could show one sin forgiven,˘///˘/˘7B

Nor lead a step beyond the grave;˘/˘/˘/˘/8A

But thine conducts to heaven.˘/˘/˘/˘7C

Verse 3

Yet men would fain by wisdom find//˘/˘/˘/8A

By works their hands have wrought;˘/˘/˘/6B

But thy commands, exceeding broad,˘/˘/˘/˘/8C

Extend to every thought.˘/˘/˘˘/7B

Verse 4

Our faith, and love, and every grace/˘/˘/˘/˘˘/10A

Full perfect with thy word;/˘/˘//6B

But perfect truth and righteousness˘˘//˘/˘˘8C

Dwell only with the Lord.//˘˘˘/6D

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.