Hymns and Tunes 1886 66
God of my life, to thee I call
Music: Anne SteeleTune: 171, 219, 816171, 219, 816
1God of my life, to thee I call;
The grateful heart, the joyful song;
Touched by thy love, my soul would raise
Resounds the goodness of the Lord.
2Yet why, dear Lord, this tender care?
Why doth thy hand so kindly spare
A useless cumberer of the ground,
On which so little fruit is found?
3Still let the barren fig-tree stand,
Uphold and watered by thy hand;
Its fruit and verdure yet shall be
A grateful tribute, Lord, to thee.
- Music
- Anne Steele
- Tune
- 171, 219, 816
- Meter
- 171, 219, 816
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 8.8.8.8 · the hymnal prints 171, 219, 816
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 65% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- AABB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
God of my life, to thee I call;/˘˘/˘/˘/8A
The grateful heart, the joyful song;˘/˘/˘/˘/8B
Touched by thy love, my soul would raise/˘//˘/˘/8C
Resounds the goodness of the Lord.//˘/˘˘˘/8D
Verse 2
Yet why, dear Lord, this tender care?////˘/˘/8A
Why doth thy hand so kindly spare////˘/˘/8A
A useless cumberer of the ground,˘/˘/˘˘˘˘/9B
On which so little fruit is found?˘˘˘/˘/˘/8B
Verse 3
Still let the barren fig-tree stand,//˘/˘?/7A
Uphold and watered by thy hand;˘/˘/˘˘//8A
Its fruit and verdure yet shall be˘/˘??/˘˘8B
A grateful tribute, Lord, to thee.˘/˘/˘/˘/8B
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.