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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1886 49

O thine, Lord, is wisdom, thine alone

Music: Isaac WattsTune: 707, 60, 57707, 60, 57

Studio

1O thine, Lord, is wisdom, thine alone;
Justice and truth before thee stand:
Yet, nearer to thy glorious throne
Mercy withholds thy lifted hand.

2Each evening shows thy tender love,
Each rising morn thy plenteous grace;
Thy willing mercy flies above,
Thy willing mercy flies apace.

3To thy benign, indulgent care,
Father, this light, this life, we owe;
And all we have, and all we are,
From thee, the Source of being, flow.

4Thrice holy! thine the kingdom is,
The power omnipotent is thine;
And when created nature dies,
Thy never-ceasing glories shine.

Tune
707, 60, 57
Meter
707, 60, 57

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
9.8.9.8 · the hymnal prints 707, 60, 57
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 55% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABAB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

O thine, Lord, is wisdom, thine alone;˘//˘/˘/˘/9A
Justice and truth before thee stand:/˘˘/˘///8B
Yet, nearer to thy glorious throne//˘˘//˘˘/9A
Mercy withholds thy lifted hand./˘////˘/8B

Verse 2

Each evening shows thy tender love,//˘///˘/8A
Each rising morn thy plenteous grace;//˘//??/8B
Thy willing mercy flies above,//˘/˘/˘/8A
Thy willing mercy flies apace.//˘/˘/˘/8B

Verse 3

To thy benign, indulgent care,˘/˘///˘/8A
Father, this light, this life, we owe;/˘˘/˘/˘/8B
And all we have, and all we are,˘/˘˘˘/˘˘8C
From thee, the Source of being, flow.˘/˘/˘/˘/8B

Verse 4

Thrice holy! thine the kingdom is,//˘/˘/˘˘8A
The power omnipotent is thine;˘/˘˘/˘˘˘/9B
And when created nature dies,˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
Thy never-ceasing glories shine./????/˘/8B

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.