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SDA Hymnal 589

Holy Spirit, Gracious Guest

Tune: GUILDFORD CATHEDRAL

1Holy Spirit, gracious guest,
Hear and grant our heart's request
For that gift supreme and best:
Holy heav'nly love.

2Faith that mountains could remove,
Tongues of earth or heaven above,
Knowledge, all things, empty prove
If I have no love.

3Though I as a martyr bleed,
Give my goods the poor to feed,
All is vain if love I need:
Therefore give me love.

4Love is kind and suffers long,
Love is pure and thinks no wrong,
Love than death it self more strong:
Therefore give us love.

5Prophecy will fade away,
Melting in the light of day;
Love will ever with us stay:
Therefore give us love.

6Faith and hope and love we see
Joining hand in hand
agreeBut the greatest of the three,
And the best is love.

Tune: GUILDFORD CATHEDRAL

The verse

Meter: 7.8.7.5
Foot: trochaic (DUM-da) · 77% of beats fit
Rhyme: AAAB

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Holy Spirit, gracious guest,/˘/˘/˘/7A

Hear and grant our heart's request/˘//˘/˘/8A

For that gift supreme and best:˘˘/˘/˘/7A

Holy heav'nly love./˘/˘/5B

Verse 2

Faith that mountains could remove,/˘/˘˘˘/7A

Tongues of earth or heaven above,/˘/˘/˘˘/8B

Knowledge, all things, empty prove/˘///˘/7A

If I have no love.˘˘˘˘/5B

Verse 3

Though I as a martyr bleed,/˘˘˘/˘/7A

Give my goods the poor to feed,/˘/˘/˘/7A

All is vain if love I need:/˘/˘/˘/7A

Therefore give me love.///˘/5B

Verse 4

Love is kind and suffers long,/˘/˘/˘/7A

Love is pure and thinks no wrong,/˘/˘/˘/7A

Love than death it self more strong:/˘/˘///7A

Therefore give us love.///˘/5B

Verse 5

Prophecy will fade away,/˘˘˘/˘/7A

Melting in the light of day;/˘˘˘/˘/7A

Love will ever with us stay:/˘/˘˘˘/7A

Therefore give us love.///˘/5B

Verse 6

Faith and hope and love we see/˘/˘/˘/7A

Joining hand in hand/˘/˘/5B

agreeBut the greatest of the three,???˘/˘˘˘/9A

And the best is love.˘˘/˘/5C

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.