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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1886 284

All praise to thee, eternal Lord

Words: Martin LutherMusic: Henry K. OliverTune: Harmony GroveL. M.

Studio

1All praise to thee, eternal Lord,
Clothed in a garb of flesh and blood;
Choosing a manger for thy throne,
While worlds on worlds are thine alone!

2Once did the skies before thee bow;
A virgin's arms contain thee now:
Angels, who did in thee rejoice,
Now listen to thy infant voice.

3A little child, thou art our guest,
That weary ones in thee may rest;
Forlorn and lowly is thy birth,
That we may rise to heaven from earth.

4Thou comest in the darksome night,
To make us children of the light;
To make us, in the realms divine,
Like thy own angels round thee shine.

5All this for us thy love hath done,
By this to thee our love is won;
For this we tune our cheerful lays,
And tell our thanks in songs of praise.

Meter
L. M.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.8.8.8 · as printed
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 64% of beats fit
Rhyme
AABB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary · * a word sung short, as “heav’n”

Verse 1

All praise to thee, eternal Lord,//˘/˘/˘/8A
Clothed in a garb of flesh and blood;/˘˘/˘/˘/8B
Choosing a manger for thy throne,/˘˘/˘˘//8C
While worlds on worlds are thine alone!//˘/˘/˘/8C

Verse 2

Once did the skies before thee bow;/˘˘/˘///8A
A virgin's arms contain thee now:˘/˘/˘///8A
Angels, who did in thee rejoice,/˘˘˘˘/˘/8B
Now listen to thy infant voice.//˘˘//˘/8B

Verse 3

A little child, thou art our guest,˘/˘///˘/8A
That weary ones in thee may rest;˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
Forlorn and lowly is thy birth,˘/˘/˘˘//8B
That we may rise to heaven from earth.˘˘˘/˘/˘/8B*

Verse 4

Thou comest in the darksome night,//˘˘˘??/8A
To make us children of the light;˘/˘/˘˘˘/8A
To make us, in the realms divine,˘/˘˘˘/˘/8B
Like thy own angels round thee shine.////˘///8B

Verse 5

All this for us thy love hath done,/˘˘˘////8A
By this to thee our love is won;˘˘˘/˘/˘/8A
For this we tune our cheerful lays,˘˘˘/˘/˘/8B
And tell our thanks in songs of praise.˘/˘/˘/˘/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.