Hymns and Tunes 1886 238
Welcome, sweet day of rest
Words: Isaac Watts
1Welcome, sweet day of rest,
The day thou hast been,
Welcome to this reviving breast,
And these rejoicing eyes.
2The King himself comes near,
And feasts his saints today;
Here we may sit, and see him here,
And love, and praise, and pray.
3One day within the place
Where Christ, my Lord, hath been,
Is sweeter than ten thousand days
Of folly and of sin.
4My willing soul would stay
In such a frame as this,
Till called to rise and soar away
To everlasting bliss.
- Words
- Isaac Watts
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 6.5.8.6
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 68% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABAB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
Welcome, sweet day of rest,/˘//˘/6A
The day thou hast been,˘///˘5B
Welcome to this reviving breast,/˘˘˘˘/˘/8A
And these rejoicing eyes.˘˘˘/˘/6C
Verse 2
The King himself comes near,˘/˘///6A
And feasts his saints today;˘/˘/˘/6B
Here we may sit, and see him here,/˘˘/˘/˘/8A
And love, and praise, and pray.˘/˘/˘/6B
Verse 3
One day within the place//˘/˘/6A
Where Christ, my Lord, hath been,//˘//˘6B
Is sweeter than ten thousand days˘/˘˘//˘/8C
Of folly and of sin.˘/˘˘˘/6B
Verse 4
My willing soul would stay˘/˘/˘/6A
In such a frame as this,˘/˘/˘˘6B
Till called to rise and soar away//˘/˘/˘/8A
To everlasting bliss.˘/˘/˘/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.