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SDA Hymnal 196

Tell Me the Old, Old Story

Studio

1Tell me the old, old story
Of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory,
Of Jesus and His love.
Tell me the story simply,
As to a little child,
For I am weak and weary,
And helpless and defiled.

RefrainTell me the old, old story,
Tell me the old, old story,
Tell me the old, old story,
Of Jesus and His love.

2Tell me the story softly,
With earnest tones and grave;
Remember I'm the sinner
Whom Jesus came to save.
Tell me the story always,
If you would really be,
In any time of trouble,
A comforter to me.

3Tell me the same old story
When you have cause to fear
That this world's empty glory
Is costing me too dear.
Yes, and when that world's glory
Is dawning on my soul,
Tell me the old, old story:
'Christ Jesus makes thee whole.'

The verse

Meter
7.6.7.6.7.6.7.7
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 54% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABABCDEF
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Tell me the old, old story/˘˘///˘7A
Of unseen things above,˘˘//˘/6B
Of Jesus and His glory,˘/˘˘˘/˘7A
Of Jesus and His love.˘/˘˘˘/6B
Tell me the story simply,/˘˘/˘/˘7C
As to a little child,˘˘˘/˘/6D
For I am weak and weary,˘˘˘/˘/˘7E
And helpless and defiled.˘/˘˘???7F

Verse 2

Tell me the story softly,/˘˘/˘/˘7A
With earnest tones and grave;˘/˘/˘/6B
Remember I'm the sinner˘/˘/˘/˘7C
Whom Jesus came to save.˘/˘/˘/6B
Tell me the story always,/˘˘/˘//7D
If you would really be,˘˘˘/˘˘6E
In any time of trouble,˘/˘/˘/˘7F
A comforter to me.˘/˘˘˘˘6E

Verse 3

Tell me the same old story/˘˘///˘7A
When you have cause to fear/˘˘/˘/6B
That this world's empty glory˘˘//˘/˘7A
Is costing me too dear.˘/˘˘//6B
Yes, and when that world's glory/˘/˘//˘7A
Is dawning on my soul,˘/˘˘˘/6C
Tell me the old, old story:/˘˘///˘7A
'Christ Jesus makes thee whole.'//˘///6C

Refrain

Tell me the old, old story,/˘˘///˘7A
Tell me the old, old story,/˘˘///˘7A
Tell me the old, old story,/˘˘///˘7A
Of Jesus and His love.˘/˘˘˘/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.