Hymns and Tunes 1886 5
How sweet to leave the world awhile
516, 764, 23
1How sweet to leave the world awhile,
And seek the presence of our Lord!
Dear Saviour, on thy people smile,
And come according to thy word.
2From busy scenes we now retreat,
That we may here converse with thee;
Dear Lord, behold us at thy feet,
Let this the gate of heaven be.
3Chief of ten thousand, now appear,
That we thy lovely face may see;
O speak, that we thy voice may hear,
And let thy presence fill this place.
- Meter
- 516, 764, 23
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 8.9.9.8 · the hymnal prints 516, 764, 23
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 55% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABAC
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
How sweet to leave the world awhile,//˘/˘/˘/8A
And seek the presence of our Lord!˘/˘/˘˘/˘/9B
Dear Saviour, on thy people smile,//˘˘˘//˘/9A
And come according to thy word.˘/˘/˘˘//8C
Verse 2
From busy scenes we now retreat,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
That we may here converse with thee;˘˘˘//˘˘/8B
Dear Lord, behold us at thy feet,//˘/˘˘//8A
Let this the gate of heaven be./˘˘/˘/˘˘8B
Verse 3
Chief of ten thousand, now appear,/˘//˘/˘/8A
That we thy lovely face may see;˘˘//˘/˘/8B
O speak, that we thy voice may hear,˘/˘˘//˘/8A
And let thy presence fill this place.˘///˘/˘/8C
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.