Hymns and Tunes 1886 307
How sweetly flowed the gospel sound
Words: Sir John BowringTune: 171, 194, 540
1How sweetly flowed the gospel sound
From lips of gentleness and grace,
When listening thousands gathered round,
And joy and gladness filled the place!
2From heaven he came, of heaven he spoke,
To heaven he led his followers' way;
Dark clouds of gloomy night he broke,
Unveiling an immortal day.
3He points us to his Father's home,
"Come, all ye weary souls, and rest;"
Yes, sacred Teacher, we will come,
Obey thee, love thee, and be blest.
- Words
- Sir John Bowring
- Tune
- 171, 194, 540
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 8.8.9.8
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 55% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABAB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
How sweetly flowed the gospel sound//˘/˘/˘/8A
From lips of gentleness and grace,˘/˘/˘˘˘/8B
When listening thousands gathered round,//˘˘/˘/˘/9A
And joy and gladness filled the place!˘/˘/˘/˘/8B
Verse 2
From heaven he came, of heaven he spoke,˘/˘˘/˘/˘˘/10A
To heaven he led his followers' way;˘/˘˘/˘/˘˘/10B
Dark clouds of gloomy night he broke,//˘/˘/˘/8A
Unveiling an immortal day.˘/˘˘//˘/8B
Verse 3
He points us to his Father's home,˘/˘˘˘/˘/8A
"Come, all ye weary souls, and rest;"////˘/˘/8B
Yes, sacred Teacher, we will come,//˘/˘˘˘/8C
Obey thee, love thee, and be blest.˘////˘˘/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.