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Millennial Harp 102

Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee

C.M.

1Jesus, the very thought of Thee With sweetness fills my breast; But sweeter far Thy face to see, And in Thy presence rest.

2No voice can sing, no heart can frame, Nor can the memory find A sweeter sound than Thy blest name, O Savior of mankind!

3O hope of every contrite heart! O joy of all the meek! To those who fall, how kind Thou art! How good to those who seek!

4But what to those who find? Ah! this Nor tongue nor pen can show; The love of Jesus, what it is None but His loved ones know.

5Jesus, our only joy be Thou, As Thou our prize wilt be; In Thee be all our glory now, And through eternity.

Also sung to: St. Agnes (Hymns and Tunes 1886 #117)
Meter: C.M.

The verse

Meter: 8.6.8.6 · as printed
Foot: iambic (da-DUM) · 35% of beats fit
Rhyme: A

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Jesus, the very thought of Thee/˘˘/˘/˘/8A

With sweetness fills my breast;˘/˘/˘/6B

But sweeter far Thy face to see,˘/˘///˘/8A

And in Thy presence rest.˘˘//˘/6B

Verse 2

No voice can sing, no heart can frame, Nor can the memory find A sweeter sound than Thy blest name, O Savior of mankind!˘/˘/˘/˘/˘˘˘/˘˘/˘/˘/˘///˘/˘˘//29A

Verse 3

O hope of every contrite heart! O joy of all the meek! To those who fall, how kind Thou art! How good to those who seek!˘/˘/˘˘˘//˘/˘/˘/˘˘˘///////˘˘˘/29A

Verse 4

But what to those who find? Ah! this˘˘˘˘˘//˘8A

Nor tongue nor pen can show;˘/˘/˘/6B

The love of Jesus, what it is˘/˘/˘˘˘˘8C

None but His loved ones know./˘˘///6B

Verse 5

Jesus, our only joy be Thou, As Thou our prize wilt be; In Thee be all our glory now, And through eternity./˘/˘/˘/˘/˘//˘//˘˘/˘//˘/˘/˘/˘/˘˘31A

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.