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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1886 65

Lord, thy weak thought in vain would climb

Music: Isaac WattsTune: 801, 66, 894801, 66, 894

Studio

1Lord, thy weak thought in vain would climb
To search the starry vault profound;
In vain would wing her flight sublime
To find creation's utmost bound.

2But weaker yet that thought must prove
To search thy great eternal plan,
Thy sovereign counsels, born of love
Long ages ere the world began.

3When my dim reason would demand
Why that or this thou dost ordain,
By some vast deep I seem to stand,
Whose secrets I must ask in vain.

4When doubts disturb my troubled breast,
Here, as on solid rock, I stand,
That so it seemeth good to thee.

Tune
801, 66, 894
Meter
801, 66, 894

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.8.8.8 · the hymnal prints 801, 66, 894
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 70% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABAB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Lord, thy weak thought in vain would climb////˘/˘/8A
To search the starry vault profound;˘/˘///˘/8B
In vain would wing her flight sublime˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
To find creation's utmost bound.˘/˘/˘///8B

Verse 2

But weaker yet that thought must prove˘/˘/˘///8A
To search thy great eternal plan,˘///˘/˘/8B
Thy sovereign counsels, born of love//˘/˘/˘/8C
Long ages ere the world began.//˘/˘/˘/8B

Verse 3

When my dim reason would demand/˘//˘˘˘/8A
Why that or this thou dost ordain,/˘˘˘//˘/8B
By some vast deep I seem to stand,˘///˘/˘/8A
Whose secrets I must ask in vain.˘/˘˘//˘/8B

Verse 4

When doubts disturb my troubled breast,//˘/˘/˘/8A
Here, as on solid rock, I stand,/˘˘/˘/˘/8B
That so it seemeth good to thee.˘˘˘/˘/˘/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.