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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1886 443

Jesus My Grief and Woe

Studio

1Jesus—and didst thou leave the sky,
To bear our griefs and woe?
And didst thou bleed, and groan, and die,
For rebellious foes?

2Well might the heavens with wonder view
A love so strange as thine!
No thoughts of angels ever knew
Compassion so divine.

3Is there a heart that will not bend
To thy divine control?
Descend, O sovereign love, descend,
And melt that stubborn soul!

4O, may our willing hearts confess
Thy sweet, thy gentle sway!
Give us the blessing of thy grace,
Thy righteous rule obey.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.7.8.5
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 52% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABAB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Jesus—and didst thou leave the sky,/˘˘///˘/8A
To bear our griefs and woe?˘//˘/˘/7B
And didst thou bleed, and groan, and die,˘///˘/˘/8A
For rebellious foes?˘˘/˘/5C

Verse 2

Well might the heavens with wonder view/˘˘/˘˘/˘/9A
A love so strange as thine!˘/˘/˘/6B
No thoughts of angels ever knew˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
Compassion so divine.˘/˘˘˘/6B

Verse 3

Is there a heart that will not bend˘/˘/˘˘˘/8A
To thy divine control?˘/˘/˘/6B
Descend, O sovereign love, descend,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
And melt that stubborn soul!˘/˘/˘/6B

Verse 4

O, may our willing hearts confess˘˘/˘/˘/˘/9A
Thy sweet, thy gentle sway!////˘/6B
Give us the blessing of thy grace,/˘˘/˘˘//8C
Thy righteous rule obey.//˘/˘/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.