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Advent Hymnals

SDA Hymnal 21

Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

Words: Walter Chalmers SmithMusic: John RobertsTune: St. Denio11.11.11.11

Studio

1Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.

2Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.

3To all life Thou givest to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
Then wither and perish; but naught changeth Thee.

4Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
All laud we would render: O help us to see
'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.

Meter
11.11.11.11
Scripture
1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Timothy 6:16; Daniel 7:9

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
11.11.11.12 · the hymnal prints 11.11.11.11
Foot
trochaic (DUM-da) · 38% of beats fit
Rhyme
AABB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,//˘//˘˘//˘/11A
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,˘//˘/˘˘/˘˘/11A
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,////˘˘˘/˘˘/11B
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.˘/˘˘/˘˘///˘/12B

Verse 2

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,˘/˘???˘/˘˘/11A
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;˘/˘˘/˘//˘˘˘11A
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above//˘//˘//˘˘/11B
Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.//˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/11B

Verse 3

To all life Thou givest to both great and small;˘////˘˘//˘/11A
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;˘////˘˘//˘/11A
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/11B
Then wither and perish; but naught changeth Thee.//˘˘/˘˘//˘/11B

Verse 4

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,//˘˘/˘//˘˘/11A
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;//˘˘////˘˘/11A
All laud we would render: O help us to see//˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/11B
'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.//˘˘/˘˘//˘/11B

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.