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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1886 21

Nature, with all her powers, shall sing

Studio

1Nature, with all her powers, shall sing
Her great Creator and her King;
Nor air, nor earth, nor skies, nor seas,
Deny the tribute of their praise.

2Ye seraphs who sit near his throne,
Begin to make his glories known;
Tune high your harps, and spread his sound
Through all creation's utmost bound.

3O may our ardent zeal employ
Our loftiest thoughts and loudest songs!
Let there be sung, with warmest joy,
Hosanna from ten thousand tongues.

4Yet, mighty God, our feeble frame
Attempts in vain to reach thy name;
The highest notes that angels raise
Fall far below thy glorious praise.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
9.8.8.8
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 56% of beats fit
Rhyme
AABB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Nature, with all her powers, shall sing/˘˘/˘/˘˘/9A
Her great Creator and her King;˘/˘/˘˘˘/8A
Nor air, nor earth, nor skies, nor seas,˘/˘/˘/˘/8B
Deny the tribute of their praise.˘/˘/˘˘˘/8C

Verse 2

Ye seraphs who sit near his throne,/??˘//˘/8A
Begin to make his glories known;˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
Tune high your harps, and spread his sound//˘/˘/˘/8B
Through all creation's utmost bound.//˘/˘///8B

Verse 3

O may our ardent zeal employ˘˘/˘/˘/˘/9A
Our loftiest thoughts and loudest songs!/˘/˘˘/˘/˘/10B
Let there be sung, with warmest joy,//˘/˘/˘/8A
Hosanna from ten thousand tongues.˘/˘˘//˘/8C

Verse 4

Yet, mighty God, our feeble frame//˘//˘/˘/9A
Attempts in vain to reach thy name;˘/˘/˘///8A
The highest notes that angels raise˘/˘/˘/˘/8B
Fall far below thy glorious praise.//˘///˘˘/9B

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.