Hymns and Tunes 1886 50
Eternal Power, whose high abode
Music: Isaac WattsTune: 786, 64, 67786, 64, 67
1Eternal Power, whose high abode
Becomes the grandeur of a God,
Infinite lengths beyond the bounds
Where stars revolve their little rounds!
2Earth, from afar, hath heard thy fame,
And worms have learned to lisp thy name;
But O! the glories of thy mind
Leave all our soaring thoughts behind.
3God is in heaven, and men below;
Be short our tunes, our words be few;
A solemn reverence checks our songs,
And praise sits silent on our tongues.
- Music
- Isaac Watts
- Tune
- 786, 64, 67
- Meter
- 786, 64, 67
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 9.8.8.8 · the hymnal prints 786, 64, 67
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 43% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABCC
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
Eternal Power, whose high abode˘/˘/˘˘/˘/9A
Becomes the grandeur of a God,˘/˘˘/˘˘/8B
Infinite lengths beyond the bounds/˘˘/˘/˘/8C
Where stars revolve their little rounds!//˘/˘/˘/8C
Verse 2
Earth, from afar, hath heard thy fame,/˘˘/////8A
And worms have learned to lisp thy name;˘/˘/˘///8A
But O! the glories of thy mind˘˘˘/˘˘//8B
Leave all our soaring thoughts behind.///˘/˘/˘/9B
Verse 3
God is in heaven, and men below;/˘˘/˘˘/˘/9A
Be short our tunes, our words be few;˘//˘//˘/˘/10B
A solemn reverence checks our songs,˘/˘/˘˘//˘/10C
And praise sits silent on our tongues.˘///˘˘/˘/9D
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.