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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1886 82

Thy goodness, Lord, our souls confess

Words: Thomas GibbonsTune: 19, 190, 304

Studio

1Thy goodness, Lord, our souls confess,
Thy goodness we adore;
A spring whose blessings never fail,
A sea without a shore.

2Sun, moon, and stars, thy love attest
In every cheerful ray;
Love draws the curtain of the night,
And love restores the day.

3Thy bounty every season crowns
With all the bliss it yields;
With joyful clusters bend the vines,
With harvests smile the fields.

4But chiefly thy compassions, Lord,
Are in the gospel seen;
There like a sun they shine aloft,
Without a cloud between.

Tune
19, 190, 304

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
9.6.8.6
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 67% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABCB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Thy goodness, Lord, our souls confess,//˘//˘/˘/9A
Thy goodness we adore;//˘˘˘/6B
A spring whose blessings never fail,˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
A sea without a shore.˘/˘/˘/6B

Verse 2

Sun, moon, and stars, thy love attest//˘///˘/8A
In every cheerful ray;˘/˘˘/˘/7B
Love draws the curtain of the night,//˘/˘˘˘/8C
And love restores the day.˘/˘/˘/6B

Verse 3

Thy bounty every season crowns//˘/˘˘/˘/9A
With all the bliss it yields;˘/˘/˘/6B
With joyful clusters bend the vines,˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
With harvests smile the fields.˘/˘/˘/6B

Verse 4

But chiefly thy compassions, Lord,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
Are in the gospel seen;˘˘˘/˘/6B
There like a sun they shine aloft,//˘/˘/˘/8C
Without a cloud between.˘/˘/˘/6B

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.