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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1886 56

Ere mountains reared their forms sublime

Music: Isaac WattsTune: 10, 602, 70510, 602, 705

Studio

1Ere mountains reared their forms sublime,
Or heaven and earth in order stood,
Before the birth of ancient time,
From everlasting thou art God.

2A thousand ages, in their flight,
With thee are as a fleeting day;
Past, present, future, to thy sight
At once their various scenes display.

3But our brief life's a shadow dream,
A passing thought, that soon is gone,
That fades with morning's earliest beam,
And this his morning music long.

4To us, the wisdom thou dost give,
That we at length with thee may spend
Where life and death unite never end.

Tune
10, 602, 705
Meter
10, 602, 705

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.9.8.8 · the hymnal prints 10, 602, 705
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 56% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABAC
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Ere mountains reared their forms sublime,//˘/˘/˘/8A
Or heaven and earth in order stood,˘/˘˘/˘/˘/9B
Before the birth of ancient time,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
From everlasting thou art God.˘/˘/˘///8C

Verse 2

A thousand ages, in their flight,˘/˘/˘˘˘/8A
With thee are as a fleeting day;˘/˘˘˘/˘/8B
Past, present, future, to thy sight//˘/˘˘//8A
At once their various scenes display.˘/˘/˘˘/˘/9B

Verse 3

But our brief life's a shadow dream,˘/˘//˘///9A
A passing thought, that soon is gone,˘/˘/˘/˘/8B
That fades with morning's earliest beam,˘/˘/˘/˘˘/9A
And this his morning music long.˘˘˘/˘/˘/8C

Verse 4

To us, the wisdom thou dost give,˘//˘/˘///9A
That we at length with thee may spend˘˘˘/˘/˘/8B
Where life and death unite never end.//˘////˘/9B

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.