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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1886 189

What is the chaff, the word of man

Words: Isaac Watts201, 227, 135

Studio

1What is the chaff, the word of man,
When set against thy wheat?
Can it a dying soul sustain
Like that divinely sweet?

2Thy word, O God, with heavenly bread
Thy children doth supply;
And those who by thy word are fed,
Their souls shall never die.

3'Tis like a field where lilies grow,
The pearl of price we view;
And he indeed is truly wise
Who makes this pearl his own.

4Then, as we would our God obey,
In letter and in spirit,
O, let us keep his seventh day,
For it is plainly brought to view.

Meter
201, 227, 135

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.6.8.6 · the hymnal prints 201, 227, 135
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 62% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABCB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

What is the chaff, the word of man,˘˘˘/˘/˘/8A
When set against thy wheat?//˘///6B
Can it a dying soul sustain˘˘˘/˘/˘/8C
Like that divinely sweet?/˘˘/˘/6B

Verse 2

Thy word, O God, with heavenly bread//˘/˘/˘˘/9A
Thy children doth supply;//˘/˘/6B
And those who by thy word are fed,˘˘˘˘//˘/8A
Their souls shall never die.˘/˘/˘/6B

Verse 3

'Tis like a field where lilies grow,//˘///˘/8A
The pearl of price we view;˘/˘/˘/6B
And he indeed is truly wise˘˘//˘/˘/8C
Who makes this pearl his own.˘/˘/˘/6D

Verse 4

Then, as we would our God obey,/˘˘˘/˘/˘/9A
In letter and in spirit,˘/˘˘˘/˘7B
O, let us keep his seventh day,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
For it is plainly brought to view.˘˘˘/˘/˘/8C

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.