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Millennial Harp 122

The Shepherd's Care

1O, tell me, thou life and delight of my soul,
Where the flock of thy pasture are feeding;
I seek thy protection, I need thy control;
I would go where my Shepherd is leading;

2O, tell me the place where thy flock are at rest,
Where the noontide will find them reposing;
The tempest now rages, my soul is distressed,
And the darkness around me is closing.

3O, why must I dwell with the hosts of thy foes,
'Mid the desert where now they are roving,
Where hunger and thirst, where afflictions and woes,
And lies now their ruin are proving?
O, when shall my exile and wanderings cease,
And the troubles that fill me with weeping?

The verse

Meter
11.10.11.10
Foot
trochaic (DUM-da) · 35% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABAB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

O, tell me, thou life and delight of my soul,˘/˘//˘˘/˘˘/11A
Where the flock of thy pasture are feeding;/˘/˘//˘˘/˘10B
I seek thy protection, I need thy control;˘//˘/˘˘//˘/11A
I would go where my Shepherd is leading;˘˘//˘/˘˘/˘10B

Verse 2

O, tell me the place where thy flock are at rest,˘/˘˘////˘˘/11A
Where the noontide will find them reposing;/˘??˘/˘//˘10B
The tempest now rages, my soul is distressed,˘/˘//˘˘/˘˘/11A
And the darkness around me is closing.˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘10C

Verse 3

O, why must I dwell with the hosts of thy foes,˘//˘/˘˘/˘//11A
'Mid the desert where now they are roving,/˘/˘//˘˘/˘10B
Where hunger and thirst, where afflictions and woes,//˘˘//˘/˘˘/11A
And lies now their ruin are proving?˘//˘/˘˘/˘9C
O, when shall my exile and wanderings cease,˘/˘˘//˘/˘˘/11D
And the troubles that fill me with weeping?˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘10E

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.