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Advent Hymnals

SDA Hymnal 446

Lo, What a Glorious Sight Appears

Words: Isaac WattsMusic: TraditionalTune: ARLINGTONC.M.

Studio

1Lo, what a glorious sight appears
To our believing eyes!
The earth and seas are passed away,
And the old rolling skies.

2Attending angels shout for joy,
And the bright armies sing
Mortals! behold the sacred seat
Of your descending King.

3His own soft hand shall wipe the tears
From every weeping eye;
And pains, and groans, and griefs, and fears,
And death itself shall die.

4How long, dear Savior! O, how long
Shall this bright hour delay?
Fly swifter round, ye wheels of time!
And bring the welcome day.

Meter
C.M.
Scripture
Revelation 21:1-4; 2 Peter 3:13; Isaiah 25:8

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.6.8.6 · as printed
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 71% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABCB

Could also be sung to Azmon, Coronation, Ortonville, Cantate Domino, Christmas · same meter and stresses; not printed with these words, so try it first.

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary · * a word sung short, as “heav’n”

Verse 1

Lo, what a glorious sight appears/˘˘/˘/˘/8A*
To our believing eyes!˘˘˘/˘/6B
The earth and seas are passed away,˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
And the old rolling skies.˘˘//˘/6B

Verse 2

Attending angels shout for joy,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
And the bright armies sing˘˘//˘/6B
Mortals! behold the sacred seat/˘˘/˘/˘/8C
Of your descending King.˘˘˘/˘/6B

Verse 3

His own soft hand shall wipe the tears˘///˘/˘/8A
From every weeping eye;˘/˘/˘/6B
And pains, and groans, and griefs, and fears,˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
And death itself shall die.˘///˘/6B

Verse 4

How long, dear Savior! O, how long////˘˘//8A
Shall this bright hour delay?˘˘//˘/6B
Fly swifter round, ye wheels of time!//˘///˘/8C
And bring the welcome day.˘/˘/˘/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.