intonation, illustrated by "lost"

When I write lyrics for other's songs the first I do is counting syllables and writing a little chart of the stresses. Only then do I start collecting textual ideas. Obviously, it can be done the other way around as well. Recently I completed "lost."  One reader noted, that the chorus might prove a bit clumsy, i.e. difficult to set to tune or to sing. He was right. When I marked the stresses I found that I had to replace "wouldn't" with "would not" in the line "I would not dare spurn" because the stress lies on the "not" ('X' stands for a stressed note):

Looks like I'm lost
- X - X

I don't know a way out
- X - X - X

Have I crossed
X - X

the point of no return?
- X - X - X

I don't feel
X - X

quite fit for a scout
X - X - X

any help
X - X

I would not dare spurn
X - X - X

Marking the stresses, e.g. by printing the stressed syllables in bold letters, also makes it easier to sing. In the example you can easily recognize where you have to sing an upbeat. "I don't know a way out" and "the point of no return" both start with an upbeat, while "quite fit for a scout" and "I would not dare spurn" both begin at the first beat of the bar.