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Hymns and Tunes 1886 41

God of light and matchless splendor

Music: Ithamar ConkeyTune: Rathbun8s & 7s

1God of light and matchless splendor,
Feeble though the praise we bring,
Let thy Spirit touch, and tender
Every heart as now we sing.

2Heaven above cannot contain thee;
At thy presence earth would flee;
And though every eye could pain thee,
Still thy mercy spareth me!

3Grateful praise my tongue shall offer,
'Neath thy smile or 'neath thy rod;
Take the humble gift I proffer,—
Heart and soul and mind, O God!

4Living only to thy glory,
From all selfish motives free,
So shall I proclaim the story
Of the One who died for me.

Music: Ithamar Conkey
Tune: Rathbun
Meter: 8s & 7s

Public Domain

The verse

Meter: 8.7.8.7 · as printed
Foot: trochaic (DUM-da) · 71% of beats fit
Rhyme: ABAB

Could also be sung to Birabus, Hinman, Shirley, St Joseph, Stockwell · 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

God of light and matchless splendor,/˘/˘??/˘8A

Feeble though the praise we bring,/˘/˘/˘/7B

Let thy Spirit touch, and tender///˘/˘/˘8A

Every heart as now we sing./˘/˘/˘/7B

Verse 2

Heaven above cannot contain thee;/˘//˘˘//8A*

At thy presence earth would flee;˘//˘/˘/7A

And though every eye could pain thee,˘//˘/˘//8A

Still thy mercy spareth me!///˘/˘˘7A

Verse 3

Grateful praise my tongue shall offer,/˘/˘/˘/˘8A

'Neath thy smile or 'neath thy rod;?//˘?//7B

Take the humble gift I proffer,—/˘/˘/˘/˘8C

Heart and soul and mind, O God!/˘/˘/˘/7B

Verse 4

Living only to thy glory,/˘/˘˘//˘8A

From all selfish motives free,˘//˘/˘/7B

So shall I proclaim the story˘˘˘˘/˘/˘8A

Of the One who died for me.˘˘/˘/˘˘7B

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.