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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1886 471

Work and Wait

Words: F. E. BeldenMusic: J. H. Tenney

Studio

1O Christian, I-idle all the day! 'Tis not enough to wait and pray; O stand for duty, work for When sounds abroad the last great cry!

RefrainWork and wait, work and wait, Eternity of rest is near. Work and wait, The time is short, the labor great; O work and wait till Christ appear. Work and wait till Christ appear.

2O work in earnest for the Lord And trust him for the great reward; Truth to thy task in-gathering lay! Lost, oh! so near thy sheltering ray!

3The time is short, the labor great, O work for Jesus while you wait. And there for God the sick stand. And there for God the sick stand; 'Tis he who labors wins the prize, No idler ear gains the skies. The crown of life that was for thee.

Scripture
John 9:4

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
31
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 58% of beats fit
Rhyme
A
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

O Christian, I-idle all the day! 'Tis not enough to wait and pray; O stand for duty, work for When sounds abroad the last great cry!˘/˘??/˘//˘˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘//˘/˘///31A

Verse 2

O work in earnest for the Lord And trust him for the great reward; Truth to thy task in-gathering lay! Lost, oh! so near thy sheltering ray!˘/˘/˘˘˘/˘/˘˘˘/˘//˘//????//˘˘///˘˘/34A

Verse 3

The time is short, the labor great, O work for Jesus while you wait. And there for God the sick stand. And there for God the sick stand; 'Tis he who labors wins the prize, No idler ear gains the skies. The crown of life that was for thee.˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘//˘/˘/˘///˘˘/˘/˘/˘/˘˘//˘/˘/˘/˘˘˘/54A

Refrain

Work and wait, work and wait, Eternity of rest is near. Work and wait, The time is short, the labor great; O work and wait till Christ appear. Work and wait till Christ appear./˘//˘/˘/˘˘˘/˘//˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘///˘//˘///˘/40A

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.