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Hymns and Tunes 1886 415

O, Comfort to the deary!

Words: Samuel S. WesleyTune: Aurelia7s & 6s, D.

1O, Comfort to the deary! O, Joy to the oppressed!
"Come unto Me, ye weary, And I will give you rest."
O, come with all your weakness, Come with your load of woe;
And learn of him with meekness All righteousness to know.

2Enslaved of foolish error, Worn out by doubt and pain,
Reapers of doubt and terror, Come, cast away your chains!
Repentance the superstition And turn from vain tradition
To His redeeming word.

3Ye who the world have courted, And suffered from its spite;
Ye who with sin have sported, And felt its serpent bite;
Come, learn, your follies quitting, That souls self-gain is loss;
To Christ's light yoke submitting, Come, and take up the cross.

4O come, and make the trial; Christ's service is release;
If hard the self-denial, Its fruit is joy and peace.
His word your faith defending, Shall nerve you for the strife;
Peace all your steps attending; The prize,—eternal life!

Scripture
Matthew 11:28

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6 · as printed
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 53% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABABCDED
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

O, Comfort to the deary!˘/˘˘˘/˘7A
O, Joy to the oppressed!˘/˘˘˘/6B
"Come unto Me, ye weary,//˘˘//˘7A
And I will give you rest."˘˘˘/˘/6B
O, come with all your weakness,˘/˘/˘/˘7C
Come with your load of woe;/˘˘/˘/6D
And learn of him with meekness˘/˘˘˘/˘7E
All righteousness to know.//˘˘˘/6D

Verse 2

Enslaved of foolish error, Worn out by doubt and pain,˘/˘/˘/˘//˘/˘/13A
Reapers of doubt and terror, Come, cast away your chains!/˘˘/˘/˘//˘/˘/13B
Repentance the superstition And turn from vain tradition˘/˘˘/˘/˘˘/˘/˘/˘15C
To His redeeming word.˘˘˘/˘/6D

Verse 3

Ye who the world have courted,/˘˘/˘/˘7A
And suffered from its spite;˘/˘˘˘/6B
Ye who with sin have sported,/˘˘/˘/˘7A
And felt its serpent bite;˘/˘/˘/6B
Come, learn, your follies quitting,//˘/˘/˘7C
That souls self-gain is loss;˘/??˘/6D
To Christ's light yoke submitting,˘///˘/˘7C
Come, and take up the cross./˘/˘˘/6D

Verse 4

O come, and make the trial; Christ's service is release;˘/˘/˘/˘//˘˘˘/13A
If hard the self-denial, Its fruit is joy and peace.˘/˘???˘/˘/˘/12A
His word your faith defending, Shall nerve you for the strife;˘/˘/˘/˘˘/˘˘˘/13B
Peace all your steps attending; The prize,—eternal life!//˘/˘/˘˘/˘/˘/13B

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.