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Hymns and Tunes 1886 6

THY PRESENCE, gracious God, afford

60, 61, 535

1THY PRESENCE, gracious God, afford;
Prepare us to receive thy word;
Now let thy voice engage our ear,
And faith be mixed with what we hear.

2Distracting thoughts and cares remove,
And fix our hearts on things above;
With food divine may we be fed,
And satisfied with living bread.

3To each thy sacred word apply
With sovereign power and energy,
And may thy faith and love and fear
Reduce to practice what we hear.

4Father, in thy Son reveal
Teach us to know and do thy will;
Thy saving power and love display,
And guide us to the realms of day.

Meter: 60, 61, 535

Public Domain

The verse

Meter: 8.8.9.8 · the hymnal prints 60, 61, 535
Foot: iambic (da-DUM) · 52% of beats fit
Rhyme: ABCC

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

THY PRESENCE, gracious God, afford;//˘/˘/˘/8A

Prepare us to receive thy word;˘/˘˘˘///8B

Now let thy voice engage our ear,////˘//˘/9C

And faith be mixed with what we hear.˘/˘/˘˘˘/8C

Verse 2

Distracting thoughts and cares remove,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A

And fix our hearts on things above;˘//˘/˘/˘/9B

With food divine may we be fed,˘/˘/˘˘˘/8C

And satisfied with living bread.˘/˘/˘/˘/8C

Verse 3

To each thy sacred word apply˘///˘/˘/8A

With sovereign power and energy,˘/˘/˘˘/˘˘9B

And may thy faith and love and fear˘˘//˘/˘/8C

Reduce to practice what we hear.˘/˘/˘˘˘/8C

Verse 4

Father, in thy Son reveal/˘˘//˘/7A

Teach us to know and do thy will;/˘˘/˘˘/˘8B

Thy saving power and love display,//˘/˘˘/˘/9C

And guide us to the realms of day.˘/˘˘˘/˘/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.