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Hymns and Tunes 1886 245

Closing Sabbath! Ah, how soon

1Closing Sabbath! Ah, how soon
Have thy sacred moments fled!

2Scarcely shines the morn, the noon,
Ere the evening brings thy last!
And another Sabbath flies,
Solemn witness! to the skies.

3What is the report it bears
To the secret place of God?
Does it speak of worldly cares,
Thoughts which cling to earth's low sod?
Or has sweet communion shone
Through its hours from God alone?

4Could we hope the day was spent
Prayerfully, with constant heart,
We might yield it up content,
Knowing, though so soon it part,
We should see a better day,
Which could never pass away.

5God of Sabbaths, O, forgive
That we use thy gifts so ill;
Teach us daily how to live
That we ever may fulfill
All thy gracious love designed,
Giving Sabbaths to mankind.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter: 7.7
Foot: trochaic (DUM-da) · 70% of beats fit
Rhyme: ABCBDD

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Closing Sabbath! Ah, how soon/˘/˘///7A

Have thy sacred moments fled!˘//˘/˘/7B

Verse 2

Scarcely shines the morn, the noon,/˘/˘/˘/7A

Ere the evening brings thy last!/˘/˘///7B

And another Sabbath flies,˘˘/˘/˘/7C

Solemn witness! to the skies./˘/˘˘˘/7C

Verse 3

What is the report it bears˘˘˘˘/˘/7A

To the secret place of God?˘˘/˘/˘/7B

Does it speak of worldly cares,˘˘/˘/˘/7A

Thoughts which cling to earth's low sod?/˘/˘///7B

Or has sweet communion shone˘˘/˘/˘/7C

Through its hours from God alone?/˘/˘˘/˘/8C

Verse 4

Could we hope the day was spent˘˘/˘/˘/7A

Prayerfully, with constant heart,/˘˘˘/˘/7B

We might yield it up content,˘˘/˘˘/˘7C

Knowing, though so soon it part,/˘/˘/˘/7B

We should see a better day,˘˘/˘/˘/7D

Which could never pass away.˘˘/˘/˘/7D

Verse 5

God of Sabbaths, O, forgive/˘/˘˘˘/7A

That we use thy gifts so ill;˘˘///˘/7B

Teach us daily how to live/˘/˘/˘/7C

That we ever may fulfill˘˘/˘˘˘/7B

All thy gracious love designed,///˘/˘/7D

Giving Sabbaths to mankind./˘/˘˘//7D

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.