A prayer appropriate for Ash Wednesday

[squireh]

From the Wesley hymnbook Rachel gave me for Christmas.

God of my salvation, hear, and help me to believe;
simply do I now draw near, thy blessing to receive.
Full of sin, alas, I am, but to thy wounds for refuge flee.
Friend of sinners, spotless Lamb, thy blood was shed for me.

Standing now as newly slain, to thee I lift mine eye

Comments

[aefenglommung]

Hmmm . . . trochaic septimeter. That would be notated as 7.7.7.7. in hymn indexes, wouldn't it?

[squireh]

76.76.78.76. In poetry each foot is counted (in this case, seven to a line, as you identified), but in hymnic meter each syllable is counted. Also, it never occurred to me till now, but each seven-foot line is divided in half. I suppose it's because we count syllables instead of feet.

[squireh]

Rachel found the Wesley Hymnbook (1963 Lilleans Publ) at a used-book store. The original owner's name written inside the cover is Howard D. Allen! You remember Howard and Betty Allen, don't you, Art?

[squireh]

I wasn't familiar with the tune, FAITH, by Samuel Sebastian Wesley. It's a sturdy and harmonically interesting Victorian tune that supports the text well.