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SDA Hymnal 595

Let Every Lamp Be Burning

Tune: DILIGENCE

Studio

1Let every lamp be burning bright,
The darkest hour is nearing;
The darkest hour of earth's long night,
Before the Lord's appearing.

RefrainThen trim your lamps, my brethren dear,
Then trim your lamps with godly fear;
The Master's coming draweth near,
Let every lamp be burning.

2Though thousands calmly slumber on,
The last great message
spurning, We'll rest our living faith upon
His promise of returning.

3His word our lamp, His truth our guide,
We cannot be mistaken;
Though dangers rise on every side,
We shall not be forsaken.

4Then let good works with faith appear,
To help the world around us;
Obedience bring the blessing near
When faith has firmly bound us.

The verse

Meter
9.8.9.7
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 44% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABAB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Let every lamp be burning bright,//˘˘/˘/˘/9A
The darkest hour is nearing;˘/˘/˘˘/˘8B
The darkest hour of earth's long night,˘/˘/˘˘///9A
Before the Lord's appearing.˘/˘/˘/˘7B

Verse 2

Though thousands calmly slumber on,//˘/˘/˘˘8A
The last great message˘///˘5B
spurning, We'll rest our living faith upon/˘///˘/˘/˘/11A
His promise of returning.˘/˘˘˘/˘7C

Verse 3

His word our lamp, His truth our guide,˘//˘/˘//˘/10A
We cannot be mistaken;˘/˘˘˘/˘7B
Though dangers rise on every side,//˘/˘/˘˘/9A
We shall not be forsaken.˘˘˘˘˘/˘7B

Verse 4

Then let good works with faith appear,////˘/˘/8A
To help the world around us;˘/˘/˘/˘7B
Obedience bring the blessing near˘/˘˘/˘/˘/9A
When faith has firmly bound us.//˘/˘/˘7B

Refrain

Then trim your lamps, my brethren dear,//˘/˘/˘/8A
Then trim your lamps with godly fear;//˘/˘/˘/8A
The Master's coming draweth near,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
Let every lamp be burning.//˘˘/˘/˘8B

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.