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Millennial Harp 14

How Long, O Lord

1"How long, O Lord, how long?"—It was in heav'n

2Was heav-en not enough! Happy, se-cure,

3Jesus! they would have more—Even in bliss,

4That prayerful voice was heard, From souls forgiven.

5Robed in e-ter-nal bliss Would they have more.

6The souls ex-pec-tant wait More hap-pi-ness.

7They wait, even in heaven, Impatiently,

8To see the troubled world At peace with thee.

9They would behold their King, Once crucified,

10Martyred still, disowned, And still denied,—

11And may not we, too, join In heaven's song?

12Should we alone not ask, "How long, how long?"

The verse

Meter
10
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 52% of beats fit
Rhyme
A
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

"How long, O Lord, how long?"—It was in heav'n//˘///˘˘˘/10A

Verse 2

Was heav-en not enough! Happy, se-cure,˘/˘˘˘//˘˘/10A

Verse 3

Jesus! they would have more—Even in bliss,/˘˘˘˘//˘˘/10A

Verse 4

That prayerful voice was heard, From souls forgiven.˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘11A

Verse 5

Robed in e-ter-nal bliss Would they have more./˘˘/˘/˘˘˘/10A

Verse 6

The souls ex-pec-tant wait More hap-pi-ness.˘/˘/˘///˘˘10A

Verse 7

They wait, even in heaven, Impatiently,˘//˘˘/˘//˘˘11A

Verse 8

To see the troubled world At peace with thee.˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/10A

Verse 9

They would behold their King, Once crucified,˘˘˘/˘///˘/10A

Verse 10

Martyred still, disowned, And still denied,—/˘/˘/˘/˘/9A

Verse 11

And may not we, too, join In heaven's song?˘˘˘˘//˘/˘/10A

Verse 12

Should we alone not ask, "How long, how long?"˘˘˘/˘/////10A

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.