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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1886 3

How pleasant, how divinely fair

Music: Isaac B. WoodburyTune: BurfordL.M.

Studio

1How pleasant, how divinely fair,
O Lord of hosts, thy dwellings are!
With long desire my spirit faints
To meet th' assemblies of thy saints.

2I long to rest in thine abode,
My panting heart cries out for God;
My God, my King, why should I be
So far from all my joys and thee?

3Blest are the souls that find a place
Within the temple of thy grace;
There they behold thy gentle rays,
And seek thy face and learn thy praise.

4Blest are the men whose hearts are set
To find the way to Zion's gate;
They walk from strength to strength, till all
Shall on thy name in Zion call.

5Cheerful they walk with growing strength,
Till all shall meet in heaven at length;
Till all before thy face appear,
And join in nobler worship there.

Meter
L.M.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.8.8.8 · as printed
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 70% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABCC

Could also be sung to Old Hundredth, Duke Street, Germany, Deus Tuorum Militum, Federal Street · same meter and stresses; not printed with these words, so try it first.

Scan every line

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

Verse 1

How pleasant, how divinely fair,//˘/˘/˘/8A
O Lord of hosts, thy dwellings are!˘/˘///˘˘8B
With long desire my spirit faints˘/˘/˘˘//8C*
To meet th' assemblies of thy saints.˘/˘/˘˘//8D

Verse 2

I long to rest in thine abode,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
My panting heart cries out for God;˘/˘///˘/8B
My God, my King, why should I be˘/˘//˘˘˘8C
So far from all my joys and thee?˘/˘/˘/˘/8C

Verse 3

Blest are the souls that find a place/˘˘/˘/˘/8A
Within the temple of thy grace;˘/˘/˘˘//8A
There they behold thy gentle rays,/˘˘///˘/8B
And seek thy face and learn thy praise.˘///˘///8B

Verse 4

Blest are the men whose hearts are set/˘˘/˘/˘/8A
To find the way to Zion's gate;˘/˘/˘/˘/8B
They walk from strength to strength, till all˘/˘/˘///8C
Shall on thy name in Zion call.˘˘//˘/˘/8C

Verse 5

Cheerful they walk with growing strength,/˘˘/˘/˘/8A
Till all shall meet in heaven at length;//˘/˘/˘/8A*
Till all before thy face appear,//˘///˘/8B
And join in nobler worship there.˘/˘/˘/˘/8C

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.