The waiting soul (Cowper, set by C. Ives) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


Breathe from the gentle south, [O Lord,
And]¹ cheer me from the north;
Blow on the treasures of Thy word,
[And]¹ call the spices forth!

[I wish, Thou knowest, to be resign'd,
And wait with patient hope;
But hope delay'd fatigues the mind,
And drinks the spirits up.]¹

Help me to reach the distant goal;
Confirm my feeble knee;
Pity the sickness of a soul,
That faints for love of Thee!

Cold as I feel this heart of mine,
Yet, since I feel it so,
It yields some hope of life divine
[Within, however low.]¹

[I seem forsaken and alone,
I hear the lion roar;
And every door is shut but one,
And that is Mercy's door.]¹

[There,]¹ till the dear Deliverer come,
I'll wait with humble prayer;
[And when He calls His exile home,
The Lord shall find him there.]¹

View text without footnotes
¹ omitted by Ives.

Authorship

William Cowper (1731-1800)

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

Charles Edward Ives (1874-1954)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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