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Hymns and Tunes 1886 229

Come, dearest Lord, and feed thy sheep

Words: William Mason

1Come, dearest Lord, and feed thy sheep,
On this sweet day of rest;
O bless this flock, and make this fold
Enjoy a heavenly rest.

2Welcome and precious to my soul
Are these sweet days of love,
But what a Sabbath shall I keep
When I shall rest above!

3I come, I wait, I hear, I pray;
Thy footsteps, Lord, I trace:
Here, in thine own appointed way,
I wait to see thy face.

4These are the sweet and precious days
On which my Lord I've seen;
And oft, when feasting on his word,
In raptures I have been.

5O, if my soul, when Christ appears,
In this sweet frame be found,
I'll clasp my Saviour in my arms,
And leave this earthly ground!

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.6.8.7
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 58% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABCB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Come, dearest Lord, and feed thy sheep,//˘/˘///8A
On this sweet day of rest;˘˘//˘/6B
O bless this flock, and make this fold˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
Enjoy a heavenly rest.//˘/˘˘/7B

Verse 2

Welcome and precious to my soul/˘˘/˘˘˘/8A
Are these sweet days of love,˘˘//˘/6B
But what a Sabbath shall I keep˘˘˘/˘˘˘/8C
When I shall rest above!/˘˘/˘/6B

Verse 3

I come, I wait, I hear, I pray;˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
Thy footsteps, Lord, I trace:////˘/6B
Here, in thine own appointed way,/˘//˘/˘/8A
I wait to see thy face.˘/˘///6B

Verse 4

These are the sweet and precious days˘˘˘/˘/˘/8A
On which my Lord I've seen;˘˘˘///6B
And oft, when feasting on his word,˘///˘˘˘/8C
In raptures I have been.˘/˘˘˘˘6D

Verse 5

O, if my soul, when Christ appears,˘˘˘///˘/8A
In this sweet frame be found,˘˘//˘/6B
I'll clasp my Saviour in my arms,//˘/˘˘˘˘/9C
And leave this earthly ground!˘/˘/˘/6B

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.