Hymns for Second Advent Believers 108
THE JUDGMENT
1AND must I be to judgment brought,
And answer in that day,
For ev'ry vain and idle thought,
And ev'ry word I say?
2Yes, ev'ry secret of my heart
Shall shortly be made known,
And I receive my just desert
For all that I have done.
3How careful, then, ought I to live!
With what religious fear;
Who, such a strict account must give
For my behavior here!
4Thou awful Judge of quick and dead,
The watchful power bestow;
So shall I to my ways take heed,
To all I speak or do.
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 8.6.8.6
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 65% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABCD
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
AND must I be to judgment brought,˘/˘˘˘/˘/8A
And answer in that day,˘/˘˘˘/6B
For ev'ry vain and idle thought,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
And ev'ry word I say?˘/˘/˘/6B
Verse 2
Yes, ev'ry secret of my heart//˘/˘˘˘/8A
Shall shortly be made known,˘/˘˘//6B
And I receive my just desert˘˘˘/˘//˘8C
For all that I have done.˘/˘˘˘/6D
Verse 3
How careful, then, ought I to live!//˘//˘˘/8A
With what religious fear;˘˘˘/˘/6B
Who, such a strict account must give˘/˘/˘///8C
For my behavior here!˘˘˘/˘/6B
Verse 4
Thou awful Judge of quick and dead,//˘/˘/˘/8A
The watchful power bestow;˘/˘/˘˘/7B
So shall I to my ways take heed,˘˘˘˘˘///8C
To all I speak or do.˘/˘/˘˘6D
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.