"His sov'ereign power, without' our aid,

Made" us of clay, and form'ed us men
And when', like wand'ring sheep, we strayed,
He brought' us to his fold' again.

"We" are his peo'ple, we' his care',

Our souls', and all our mor'tal frame;
What last'ing hon'ors shall we rear,
Almigh'ty Ma'ker, to thy name!

"We'll crowd' thy gates' with thank'ful songs,
High" as the heavens' our voic ́es raise;
And earth', with her ten thou'sand tongues,
Shall fill' thy courts with sound'ing praise.

"Wide"-as the world' is thy command;
Vast"-as eter'nity thy love;

Firm"

'—as a rock' thy truth' shall stand,

While roll'ing years shall cease' to move."

The trochees with which so many of the lines commence thus present the acts they are employed to express in a far bolder and more impressive attitude than they could have received had iambics been used, and give a vivacity and force to the modulation that brings it into harmony with them, and makes it as indicative almost of their vehemence as the emphatic monosyllables are by which

they are so vividly depicted. On the other hand, the introduction of the first three lines in the last stanza with an emphatic trochee, renders the change to an iambic, and the enunciation of the fourth line, in the diminishing voice which the cadence requires, highly pleasing.

The same effect of the trochee is seen in the following hymn:

"How sweet' and awful' is the place,

With Christ' within the doors;

While' everlasting love' displays

The choic ́est of her stores.

"While all' our hearts', and all' our songs',

Join'-to admire' the feast,

Each' of us cry, with thank'ful tongues,
Lord',-why was I' a guest!

"Why' was I' made to hear thy voice,

And en'ter while there's room,

When thou'sands make a wretch'ed choice,

And rather starve' than come !

""Twas the same love' that spread' the feast

That sweet'ly forced' us in;

Else' we had still refused' to taste,

And per'ished in our sin.

"Pi'ty the na'tions, O our God;

Constrain' the earth to come;
Send' thy victorious word' abroad,
And bring the strangers home.

"We long' to see thy church'es full;

That all' the cho ́sen race

May with one' voice, and heart', and soul',
Sing thy redeem'ing grace."

The frequent change throughout the hymn from an iambic to a trochee, and from a trochee to an iambic, thus adds greatly to the point and grace of the expression, and the spirit and beauty of the rhythm.

A spondee is sometimes used in place of a trochee, and with much the same effect, as in the third line of the following hymn:

"Mor'tals awake, with an'gels join,

And chant' the solemn lay;

Joy', love', and gra'titude combine
To hail' the auspi'cious day.

"In heaven' the rap'turous song began;
And sweet' seraph'ic fire

Through all' the shining le'gions ran,

And swept' the sounding lyre,

"The theme', the song', the joy' was new

To each' angel'ic tongue;

Swift'-through the realms' of light' it flew,

And loud' the echo rung.

"Down' through the por'tals of the sky
The peal'ing an'them ran;
And an'gels flew, with ea'ger joy,
To bear the news' to man.

“Hark”—the cherubic ar'mies shout,
And Glory leads' the song;
Peace' and Salva'tion swell' the note,
Of all the heav'enly throng.

"With joy' the chor'us we repeat,

Glory to God on high;

Goodwill' and peace' are now complete,
Jesus" is born' to die."

The movement of seven syllable lines, formed of two trochees and an amphimacer, and with the accent usually thrown chiefly on two syllables, is very fine:

"Rock of Ages cleft' for me,
Let' me hide' myself in thee;
Let the wa'ter and the blood'

From thy wound'ed side' which flowed,
Be' of sin the dou'ble cure-

Save' from wrath, and make' me pure."

The modulation of the lines is sometimes rendered so expressive and vivacious, by the words of the feet of which they are constructed, that it is taken as the basis of the air that is composed for them, and made the vehicle of a most graphic representation of the acts they describe, and impassioned utterance of the sentiments they express. That was undoubtedly the origin of the spirited tune to which Moore's version of Miriam's song, consisting principally of anapests, is set:

"Sound' the loud tim'brel o'er E'gypt's dark sea', Jehovah has tri'umphed, his peo'ple are free'! Sing', for the pride' of the ty'rant is broken!

His cha'riots, his horse'men, all splen'did and brave, How vain' was their boast! for the Lord' hath but spoken, And cha'riots and horse'men are sunk' in the wave! Sound' the loud tim'brel o'er E'gypt's dark sea', Jehovah has tri'umphed,-his people are free'!

If the tones in which the successive syllables of these lines are naturally uttered, when pronounced with emotion, are written on a musical staff, it will