Lyrics
1. Thee will I love,
my Strength, my Tower;
Thee will I love, my Hope, my Joy;
Thee will I love with all my power,
With ardor time shall ne'er destroy.
Thee will I love, O Light Divine,
So long as life is mine.
2. Thee will I love,
my Life, my Savior,
Who art my best
and truest Friend;
Thee will I love and praise forever,
For never shall Thy kindness end;
Thee will I love with all my heart,
Thou my Redeemer art.
3. Alas! that I so late have known Thee,
Who art the Fairest and the Best;
Nor sooner for my Lord
could own Thee,
Our highest Good, our only Rest!
Now bitter shame and grief I prove
O'er this my tardy love.
4. I wandered long
in willing blindness,
I sought Thee, but I found Thee not,
For still I shunned
Thy beams of kindness;
The creature-light
filled all my thought.
And if at last I see Thee now,
'Twas Thou to me didst bow!
5. I thank Thee, Jesus,
Sun from heaven,
Whose radiance
hath bro't light to me;
I thank Thee, who hast richly given
All that could
make me glad and free;
I thank Thee that my soul is healed
By what Thy lips revealed.
6. Oh, keep me watchful,
then, and humble
And suffer me no more to stray;
Uphold me when
my feet would stumble,
Nor let me loiter by the way.
Fill all my nature with Thy light,
O Radiance strong and bright!
7. Oh, teach me, Lord,
to love Thee truly
With soul and body,
head and heart,
And grant me grace
that I may duly
Practice fore'er love's sacred art.
Grant that my every
thought may be
Directed e'er to Thee.
8. Thee will I love,
my Crown of gladness;
Thee will I love, my God and Lord,
Amid the darkest
depths of sadness,
Not for the hope of high reward
For Thine own sake,
O Light Divine,
So long as life is mine.