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Hymns and Tunes 1886 84

Father, how wide thy glory shines

Words: Isaac WattsTune: 486, 291, 569

1Father, how wide thy glory shines!
How high thy wonders rise!
Known through the earth by countless signs,
By countless through the skies.

2Those mighty orbs proclaim thy power,
Their motions speak thy skill;
And on the wings of every hour
We read thy patience still.

3But when we view thy strange design
To save rebellious worms,
Where vengeance and compassion join
In their divinist forms;

4Here the whole Deity is known;
Nor dares a creature guess
Which of the glories brightest shone—
The justice, or the grace.

5Now the full glories of the Lamb
Adorn the heavenly plains;
While seraphs chant Immanuel's name,
And try their choicest strains.

6Wonder and joy shall tune my heart,
And love command my tongue.
O may I bear some humble part
In that immortal song!

Tune
486, 291, 569

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.6.8.6
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 63% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABAB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Father, how wide thy glory shines!/˘////˘/8A
How high thy wonders rise!////˘/6B
Known through the earth by countless signs,//˘/˘/˘/8A
By countless through the skies.˘/˘/˘/6B

Verse 2

Those mighty orbs proclaim thy power,˘/˘/˘///˘9A
Their motions speak thy skill;˘/˘///6B
And on the wings of every hour˘˘˘/˘/˘˘/˘10A
We read thy patience still.˘///˘/6B

Verse 3

But when we view thy strange design˘/˘///˘/8A
To save rebellious worms,˘/˘/˘/6B
Where vengeance and compassion join//˘˘˘/˘/8C
In their divinist forms;˘˘???/6D

Verse 4

Here the whole Deity is known;/˘//˘˘˘/8A
Nor dares a creature guess˘/˘/˘/6B
Which of the glories brightest shone—˘˘˘/˘/˘/8A
The justice, or the grace.˘/˘˘˘/6C

Verse 5

Now the full glories of the Lamb/˘//˘˘˘/8A
Adorn the heavenly plains;˘/˘/˘˘/7B
While seraphs chant Immanuel's name,/??//˘˘/8C
And try their choicest strains.˘/˘/˘/6B

Verse 6

Wonder and joy shall tune my heart,/˘˘/˘/˘/8A
And love command my tongue.˘/˘/˘/6B
O may I bear some humble part˘˘˘///˘/8A
In that immortal song!˘˘//˘/6C

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.