Hymns and Tunes 1886 197
God's law demands our living faith
Words: Virgil C. TaylorTune: WarrenL. M.
1God's law demands our living faith,
And we a crowd of lifeless creeds;
Its warrant is a firm "God saith:"
Its claim not words, but living deeds.
2Yet, Lord, forgive,—thy holy law
Grows tarnished in our earthly clasp;
Pure in itself, without a flaw,
It dims in our too worldly grasp.
3Forgive the sacrilege, and take
From every soul each unholy stain,
And help us for thy Son's dear sake,
To keep thy law perfect again.
- Words
- Virgil C. Taylor
- Tune
- Warren
- Meter
- L. M.
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 8.8.8.8 · as printed
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 62% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABCB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
God's law demands our living faith,//˘/˘/˘/8A
And we a crowd of lifeless creeds;˘˘˘/˘/˘/8B
Its warrant is a firm "God saith:"˘/˘˘˘//?8C
Its claim not words, but living deeds.˘/˘/˘/˘/8B
Verse 2
Yet, Lord, forgive,—thy holy law//˘///˘/8A
Grows tarnished in our earthly clasp;//˘˘˘/˘/8B
Pure in itself, without a flaw,/˘//˘/˘/8A
It dims in our too worldly grasp.˘/˘˘//˘/8B
Verse 3
Forgive the sacrilege, and take˘/˘/˘˘˘/8A
From every soul each unholy stain,˘/˘//˘/˘/9B
And help us for thy Son's dear sake,˘/˘˘////8A
To keep thy law perfect again.˘///˘/˘/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.