Hymns and Tunes 1886 376
Vain Are the Hopes the Sons of Men
Words: Isaac Watts8s, 6s, & 4s
1Vain are the hopes the sons of men
On their own works have built;
Their hearts, by nature, all unclean,
And all their actions guilt.
2Let Jew and Gentile cease their stand,
Without a murmuring word;
And the whole race of Adam own
Their guilt before the Lord.
3Jesus, how glorious is thy grace,
When in thy name we trust,
Our faith receives a righteousness
That makes the sinner just.
- Words
- Isaac Watts
- Meter
- 8s, 6s, & 4s
- Scripture
- Romans 3:19-24; Galatians 2:16; Philippians 3:9
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 8.6.8.6 · the hymnal prints 8s, 6s, & 4s
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 54% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABCB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
Vain are the hopes the sons of men/˘˘/˘/˘/8A
On their own works have built;˘˘//˘/6B
Their hearts, by nature, all unclean,˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
And all their actions guilt.˘/˘/˘/6B
Verse 2
Let Jew and Gentile cease their stand,//˘///˘/8A
Without a murmuring word;˘/˘/˘˘/7B
And the whole race of Adam own˘˘//˘/˘/8C
Their guilt before the Lord.˘/˘/˘/6D
Verse 3
Jesus, how glorious is thy grace,/˘//˘˘˘//9A
When in thy name we trust,/˘//˘/6B
Our faith receives a righteousness/˘/˘/˘/˘˘9C
That makes the sinner just.˘/˘/˘/6B
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.