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Hymns and Tunes 1886 273

For the mercies of the day

Words: James Montgomery

1For the mercies of the day,
For this rest upon our way,
Thanks to thee along we give,
Lord of earth and King of heaven!

2On our services have peace,
Mingled with the taint of sin;
But thou canst and wilt forgive;
By thy grace alone we live.

3While this thorny path we tread,
May thy love our footsteps lead;
When our journey here is past,
May we rest with thee at last.

4Let these earthly Sabbaths prove
Foretastes of our joys above;
While their steps thy children bend
To the rest that knows no end.

Words: James Montgomery

Public Domain

The verse

Meter: 7.8.7.8
Foot: trochaic (DUM-da) · 49% of beats fit
Rhyme: AABC

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

For the mercies of the day,˘˘//˘˘/7A

For this rest upon our way,˘˘/˘//˘/8A

Thanks to thee along we give,/˘/˘/˘/7B

Lord of earth and King of heaven!/˘/˘/˘/˘8C

Verse 2

On our services have peace,˘/˘/˘˘˘/8A

Mingled with the taint of sin;/˘˘˘/˘/7B

But thou canst and wilt forgive;˘//˘/˘/7C

By thy grace alone we live.˘//˘/˘/7D

Verse 3

While this thorny path we tread,/˘/˘/˘/7A

May thy love our footsteps lead;˘///˘///8A

When our journey here is past,//˘/˘/˘/8B

May we rest with thee at last.˘˘/˘/˘/7B

Verse 4

Let these earthly Sabbaths prove/˘/˘/˘/7A

Foretastes of our joys above;˘/˘/˘/˘/8B

While their steps thy children bend/˘///˘/7C

To the rest that knows no end.˘˘/˘/˘/7C

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.