1 Hail, Holy Spirit, bright immortal Dove!
Great spring of light, of purity and love;
Proceeding from the Father and the Son,
Distinct from both, and yet with both but one.
2 O Lord, from Thee one kind and quick’ning ray
Will pierce the gloom and re-enkindle day;
Will warm the frozen heart with love divine,
And with its Maker’s image make it shine.
3 Oh, shed Thine influence, and Thy power exert;
Clear my dark mind, and thaw my icy heart;
Pour on my drowsy soul celestial day,
And heav’nly life to all its pow’rs convey.
Simon Browne was born at Shepton Mallet, Somersetshire, about 1680. He began to preach as an "Independent" before he was twenty years of age, and was soon after settled at Portsmouth. In 1716, he became pastor in London. In 1723, he met with some misfortunes, which preyed upon his mind, and produced that singular case of monomania, recorded in the text-books of Mental Philosophy; he thought that God had "annihilated in him the thinking substance, and utterly divested him of consciousness." "Notwithstanding," says Toplady, "instead of having no soul, he wrote, reasoned, and prayed as if he had two." He died in 1732. His publications number twenty-three, of which some are still in repute.
--Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins,… Go to person page >
According to some sources, William H. Monk (PHH 332) wrote EVENTIDE for Lyte's text in ten minutes. As the story goes, Monk was attending a hymnal committee meeting for the 1861 edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern of which he was music editor. Realizing that this text had no tune, Monk sat down at t…