Together in Song ‎#398

398. Come down, O Love divine

1 Come down, O Love divine,
seek now this soul of mine,
and visit it with our own ardour glowing;
O Comforter, draw near,
within my heart appear
and kindle it, your holy flame bestowing.

2 There let it freely burn,
till earthly passions turn
to dust and ashes, in its heat consuming;
and let your glorious light
shine ever on my sight
and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.

3 Let holy charity
my outward garment be,
and lowliness become my inner clothing:
true lowliness of heart,
which takes the humbler part
and for its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.

4 And so the yearning strong,
with which the soul will long,
shall far outpass the power of human telling;
for none can guess its grace
till we become the place
in which the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.

Text Information

• First Line: Come down, O Love divine
• Author: Bianco de Siena, d. 1434
• Translator: Richard Frederick Littledale, 1833-90 (alt.)
• Meter: 66 11 D
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1999
• Scripture:
  1 Corinthians 13:1-7
  ;
  2 Timothy 1:6-7
  ;
  Colossians 3:12-13
  ;
  John 14:15-17
  ;
  John 14:18-19
• Topic: Comfort; Consummation in Christ; Devotion; God's Love to Us; Holy Spirit; Invocation; Longing for God; Our Love to God; Penitence; Sanctification

Tune Information

• Name: DOWN AMPNEY
• Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1872-1958
• Meter: 66 11 D
• Key: D Major
• Copyright: Music from the "English Hymnal" by permission Oxford University Press