7. O Love, who once shalt bid me rise From out this dying life of ours; O Love, who once above yon skies Shalt set me in the fadeless bowers,— O Love, I give myself to Thee, Thine ever, only Thine, to be. J. Scheffler, 1657; C. Winkworth, tr., a., 1858. 349 9, 8, 9, 8, 8, 6 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, For Thou my Bridegroom 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 shining hath brought 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. O 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. O teach me, Lord, to love Thee truly With soul and body, head and heart, And grant me grace that I may duly Practise 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. J. Scheffler, 1657; C. Winkworth, tr., a., 1863. 350 L. M. Renew me, O eternal Light, And let my heart and soul be bright, Illumined with the light of grace, That issues from Thy holy face. 2. Destroy in me the lust of sin, From all impureness make me clean; O grant me power and strength, my God, To strive against my flesh and blood. 3. Create in me a new heart, Lord, That gladly I obey Thy Word And naught but what Thou wilt, desire; With such new life my soul inspire.