Hymns and Tunes 1886 228
Dear Lord, would thy praises sing
1Dear Lord, would thy praises sing
On this thy holy day;
With grateful hearts our tribute bring;
To thee our homage pay.
2This day, which thou for God hast blessed,
And set apart as thine,—
This day, when God himself did rest,
Hath honors all divine.
3Lord, we would turn away our feet
From this thy holy day,
And call its rest and worship sweet,
Not doing our own way.
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 7.6.9.7
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 54% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABAB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
Dear Lord, would thy praises sing//˘//˘/7A
On this thy holy day;˘˘//˘/6B
With grateful hearts our tribute bring;˘/˘//˘/˘/9A
To thee our homage pay.˘//˘/˘/7B
Verse 2
This day, which thou for God hast blessed,˘/˘/˘///8A
And set apart as thine,—˘/˘/˘/6B
This day, when God himself did rest,˘///˘/˘/8A
Hath honors all divine.//˘/˘/6B
Verse 3
Lord, we would turn away our feet/˘˘/˘//˘/9A
From this thy holy day,˘˘//˘/6B
And call its rest and worship sweet,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
Not doing our own way.˘/˘/˘//7B
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.