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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1886 230

How sweet upon this sacred day

Words: George KingsleyTune: ElizabethtownC. M.

Studio

1How sweet upon this sacred day,
The best of all the seven,
To cast our earthly thoughts away,
And think of God and heaven!

2How sweet to be allowed to pray,
Our sins may be forgiven
With filial confidence to say,
'Father, who art in heaven!'

3How sweet the words of peace to hear
From him to whom 'tis given
To wake the penitential tear,
And lead the way to heaven!

4And if to make our sins depart,
In vain the will has striven,
He who regards the inmost heart
Will send his grace from heaven.

Meter
C. M.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.7.8.6 · the hymnal prints C. M.
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 70% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABAC

Could also be sung to Azmon, Coronation, Ortonville, Cantate Domino, Christmas · same meter and stresses; not printed with these words, so try it first.

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary · * a word sung short, as “heav’n”

Verse 1

How sweet upon this sacred day,//˘/˘/˘/8A
The best of all the seven,˘/˘/˘/˘7B
To cast our earthly thoughts away,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
And think of God and heaven!˘/˘/˘/6B*

Verse 2

How sweet to be allowed to pray,//˘˘˘/˘/8A
Our sins may be forgiven˘/˘˘˘/˘7B
With filial confidence to say,˘/˘˘/˘˘˘/9A
'Father, who art in heaven!'/˘˘/˘/6C*

Verse 3

How sweet the words of peace to hear//˘/˘/˘/8A
From him to whom 'tis given˘˘˘˘//6B*
To wake the penitential tear,˘/˘????/8C
And lead the way to heaven!˘/˘/˘/6D*

Verse 4

And if to make our sins depart,˘˘˘/˘/˘/8A
In vain the will has striven,˘/˘˘˘/˘7B
He who regards the inmost heart˘˘˘/˘??/8A
Will send his grace from heaven.˘/˘/˘/6C*

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.