Hymns and Tunes 1886 364
Shall this vile heart of flesh and blood
777, 63, 676
1Shall this vile heart of flesh and blood
Contend with their Creator, God?
Shall mortal worms presume to be
More holy, wise, or just, than he?
2From night to day, from day to night,
We stain thy thousands in thy sight;
Buried in dust while nations lie,
Like a forgotten vanity.
3Almighty Power, to thee we bow;
How frail are we! how glorious thou!
No more the sons of earth shall dare
With an eternal God compare.
- Meter
- 777, 63, 676
- Scripture
- Job 4:17; Isaiah 40:15
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 8.8.8.8 · the hymnal prints 777, 63, 676
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 58% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABCC
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
Shall this vile heart of flesh and blood˘˘//˘/˘/8A
Contend with their Creator, God?˘/˘˘˘/˘/8B
Shall mortal worms presume to be˘/˘/˘/˘˘8C
More holy, wise, or just, than he?//˘/˘/˘˘8C
Verse 2
From night to day, from day to night,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
We stain thy thousands in thy sight;˘///˘˘//8A
Buried in dust while nations lie,/˘˘///˘/8B
Like a forgotten vanity./˘˘/˘/˘˘8C
Verse 3
Almighty Power, to thee we bow;˘/˘/˘˘/˘/9A
How frail are we! how glorious thou!//˘˘//˘˘/9A
No more the sons of earth shall dare˘/˘/˘/˘/8B
With an eternal God compare.˘˘˘/˘/˘/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.