Text:Be Thou My Vision
Translator:Mary E. Byrne
Versifier:Eleanor Hull
Tune:SLANE
Harmonizer:David Evans
Media:Audio recording

450. Be Thou My Vision

1 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art;
thou my best thought, by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

2 Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true Word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
thou my soul’s shelter, and thou my high tower;
raise thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

3 Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise;
thou, mine inheritance, now and always;
thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.

4 High King of Heaven, my victory won,
may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

Text Information
First Line: Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Title: Be Thou My Vision
Translator: Mary E. Byrne (1905)
Versifier: Eleanor Hull (1912, alt.)
Meter: 10.10.10.10
Language: English
Publication Date: 2013
Scripture: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Topic: Christian Year: Ash Wednesday; Commitment; Dying in Christ (7 more...)
Source: Irish poem
Tune Information
Name: SLANE
Harmonizer: David Evans (1927)
Meter: 10.10.10.10
Key: E♭ Major
Source: Irish ballad
Copyright: Harm. © 1927 Oxford University Press
Notes: Guitar chords do not correspond with keyboard harmony.


Text Information:

These stanzas are selected from a 20th-century English poetic version of an Irish monastic prayer dating to the 10th century or before. They are set to an Irish folk melody that has proved popular and easily sung despite its lack of repetition and its wide range.


Media
Audio recording: Audio (MP3)
More media are available on the text authority and tune authority pages.

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