Hymns and Tunes 1886 243
Welcome, sweet day of rest!
1Welcome, sweet day of rest!
Day above all days the best,
When our souls for heaven prepare.
2Gracious Lord, we love this day,
When we hear thy holy word;
When thy people praise, and pray;
Earth can no such joys afford.
3But a better rest remains,—
Heavenly Sabbaths, happy days,
Rest from sin, and rest from pains,
Endless joys, and endless praise.
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 6.7.9
- Foot
- trochaic (DUM-da) · 62% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- AAB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
Welcome, sweet day of rest!/˘//˘/6A
Day above all days the best,/˘///˘/7A
When our souls for heaven prepare.//˘/˘/˘˘/9B
Verse 2
Gracious Lord, we love this day,/˘/˘/˘/7A
When we hear thy holy word;/˘///˘/7B
When thy people praise, and pray;///˘/˘/7A
Earth can no such joys afford./˘˘//˘/7C
Verse 3
But a better rest remains,—˘˘/˘/˘/7A
Heavenly Sabbaths, happy days,/˘˘/˘/˘/8B
Rest from sin, and rest from pains,/˘/˘/˘/7A
Endless joys, and endless praise./˘/˘/˘/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.