Hymns and Tunes 1886 286
When Jordan hushed his waters still
1When Jordan hushed his waters still,
And silence slept on Zion's hill;
When Bethlehem's shepherds through the night
Watched o'er their flocks by starry light;
2Hark! from the midnight hills around,
A voice of more than mortal sound
In distant hallelujahs stole,
Like music o'er the raptured soul.
3On wheels of light, on wings of flame,
The glorious hosts of Zion came;
High heaven with songs of triumph rung,
While angels struck their harps and sung.
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 8.8.9.8
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 59% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- AABB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
When Jordan hushed his waters still,//˘/˘/˘/8A
And silence slept on Zion's hill;˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
When Bethlehem's shepherds through the night//˘//˘/˘/9B
Watched o'er their flocks by starry light;//˘/˘///8B
Verse 2
Hark! from the midnight hills around,/˘˘///˘/8A
A voice of more than mortal sound˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
In distant hallelujahs stole,˘/˘/˘/˘/8B
Like music o'er the raptured soul.//˘/˘/˘/8B
Verse 3
On wheels of light, on wings of flame,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
The glorious hosts of Zion came;˘/˘˘/˘/˘/9A
High heaven with songs of triumph rung,//˘˘/˘/˘/9B
While angels struck their harps and sung.//˘/˘/˘/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.