One Hundred Holy Songs, Carols, and Sacred Ballads Original, and suitable for music [by Jean Ingelow] |
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[Now will I sing a song I learn'd of old] |
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 | One Hundred Holy Songs, Carols, and Sacred Ballads |  |
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[Now will I sing a song I learn'd of old]
“I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman.”
Now will I sing a song I learn'd of old
To One whom my soul loveth. “O my Vine,
My Life, Thy branch cries out to Thee; behold,
For good, this fruitless graft, that yet is Thine.
To One whom my soul loveth. “O my Vine,
My Life, Thy branch cries out to Thee; behold,
For good, this fruitless graft, that yet is Thine.
Alas, for clusters it should bear to Thee
Leaves that do languish, wither'd buds are there;
When the Great Husbandman shall presently
Come down, is nothing sweet, and nothing fair.
Leaves that do languish, wither'd buds are there;
When the Great Husbandman shall presently
Come down, is nothing sweet, and nothing fair.
That branch He favour'd of the almond tree
Budded, brake forth, and bloom'd in Aaron's hand;
O mystic Vine, shall He do less for Thee
Than bid Thy favour'd branch revive, expand.
Budded, brake forth, and bloom'd in Aaron's hand;
O mystic Vine, shall He do less for Thee
Than bid Thy favour'd branch revive, expand.
Call the sweet winds of heaven and bid them blow,
And call the clouds to drop in gracious dew;
Let Thy sap rise in this dry branch and flow—
(For yet 'tis Thine)—Rise, rise, in it anew.
And call the clouds to drop in gracious dew;
Let Thy sap rise in this dry branch and flow—
(For yet 'tis Thine)—Rise, rise, in it anew.
O for His hand, the Heavenly Husbandman;
But what if it should come with loss, with pain?
How should the wheat desire the winnowing fan—
How shall the branch desire so sore a gain?
But what if it should come with loss, with pain?
How should the wheat desire the winnowing fan—
How shall the branch desire so sore a gain?
Nay, let that be. Only, my Life, my Vine,
Thee let me yet some sweetness grow, and then
It shall suffice Thy branch—(is it not Thine?)—
To ask, to pray, “Even so come. Amen.”
Thee let me yet some sweetness grow, and then
It shall suffice Thy branch—(is it not Thine?)—
To ask, to pray, “Even so come. Amen.”
| One Hundred Holy Songs, Carols, and Sacred Ballads | |