Hymns and Tunes 1886 260
Thy presence, eve-present
1Thy presence, eve-present, be with us to bless,
Wide through all nature spreads abroad;
Thy watchful eyes, which never sleep,
In every place their children keep.
2To thee we now commit our ways,
And still implore thy heavenly grace;
Still cause thy face on us to shine,
And guard each wandering heart of thine.
3Give us a within thy house to raise
Again united songs of praise;
Or if that joy no more be known,
Give us to meet around thy throne.
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 12.8.8.9
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 46% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABCC
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
Thy presence, eve-present, be with us to bless,//˘????˘˘˘˘/12A
Wide through all nature spreads abroad;////˘/˘/8B
Thy watchful eyes, which never sleep,//˘/˘/˘/8C
In every place their children keep.˘/˘˘/˘/˘/9C
Verse 2
To thee we now commit our ways,˘/˘/˘//˘/9A
And still implore thy heavenly grace;˘/////˘˘/9B
Still cause thy face on us to shine,////˘˘˘/8C
And guard each wandering heart of thine.˘///˘˘/˘/9C
Verse 3
Give us a within thy house to raise/˘˘˘///˘/9A
Again united songs of praise;˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
Or if that joy no more be known,˘˘˘/˘/˘/8B
Give us to meet around thy throne./˘˘/˘///8B
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.