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Millennial Harp 15

Hail to the Lord's Anointed

1Hail to the Lord's anointed!
Great David's greater Son;
Hail in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
To set the captive free;
To take away transgression,
And rule in equity.

2He comes with succor speedy,
To those who suffer wrong;
To help the poor and needy,
And bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing,
Their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemned and dying
Were precious in his sight.

3He shall come down, like showers
Upon the fruitful earth,
And love and joy, like flowers,
Spring in his path to birth;
Before him, on the mountains,
Shall peace, the herald, go,
And righteousness in fountains
From hill to valley flow.

4For him shall prayer unceasing
And daily vows ascend;

The verse

Meter
7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 79% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABABCDCE
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Hail to the Lord's anointed!/˘˘/˘/˘7A
Great David's greater Son;//˘/˘/6B
Hail in the time appointed,/˘˘/˘/˘7A
His reign on earth begun!˘/˘/˘/6B
He comes to break oppression,˘/˘/˘/˘7C
To set the captive free;˘/˘/˘/6D
To take away transgression,˘/˘/˘/˘7C
And rule in equity.˘/˘/˘˘6E

Verse 2

He comes with succor speedy,˘/˘/˘//7A
To those who suffer wrong;˘˘˘/˘/6B
To help the poor and needy,˘/˘/˘/˘7C
And bid the weak be strong;˘/˘/˘/6B
To give them songs for sighing,˘/˘/˘/˘7D
Their darkness turn to light,˘/˘/˘/6E
Whose souls, condemned and dying˘/˘/˘/˘7D
Were precious in his sight.˘/˘˘˘/6E

Verse 3

He shall come down, like showers˘˘////˘7A
Upon the fruitful earth,˘/˘/˘/6B
And love and joy, like flowers,˘/˘///˘7A
Spring in his path to birth;/˘˘/˘/6B
Before him, on the mountains,˘/˘˘˘/˘7C
Shall peace, the herald, go,˘/˘/˘/6D
And righteousness in fountains˘/˘˘˘/˘7C
From hill to valley flow.˘/˘/˘/6D

Verse 4

For him shall prayer unceasing˘˘˘/˘/˘7A
And daily vows ascend;˘/˘/˘/6B

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.