Jesu! The Very Thought Is Sweet!

For Epiphany

Words: "Jesu dulcis memoria," with notes
Attributed to S. Bernard (1091-1157)
Translator: Altered from Hymnal Noted.
Compare: Jesu! The Very Thought Is Sweet! (Neale, #18, Hymn)

Music: "Melody from the Salisbury Hymnal."
Harmonized by H. R. Schrœder."

Source: J. H. Hopkins, ed., Great Hymns of the Church Compiled by the Late Right Reverend John Freeman Young (New York: James Pott & Company, 1887), #88, p. 136.

1. Jesu! the very thought is sweet!
In that dear Name all heart-joys meet:
But sweeter than the honey far
The glimpses of His presence are.

2. No word is sung more sweet than this,
No name is heard more full of bliss,
No thought brings sweeter comfort nigh,
Than Jesus, Son of God Most High.

3. Jesu! the hope of souls forlorn,
How good to them for sin that mourn!
To them that seek Thee, oh how kind!
But art Thou to them that find?

4. No tongue of mortal can express,
No pen can write its blessedness:
He only who hath proved it knows
What bliss from love of Jesus flows.

5. O Jesu! King of wondrous might!
O Victor, glorious from the fight
Sweetness that may not be express'd,
And altogether loveliest!

6. All honour, praise and glory be,
O Jesu! Virgin-born, to Thee!
All glory, as is ever meet,
To Father and to Paraclete! Amen.

Sheet Music to "Jesu dulcis memoria" from J. H. Hopkins, ed., Great Hymns of the Church Compiled by the Late Right Reverend John Freeman Young (New York: James Pott & Company, 1887), #88, p. 136.

Sheet Music to Tunes 1 and 2 from Rev. John Mason Neale and Rev. Thomas Helmore, eds., Hymnal Noted, Part I. (London: Novello & Co., 1852), Part II (London: Novello & Co., 1856), #18, pp. 44-45.

Sheet Music from Thomas Helmore, Accompanying Harmonies to the Hymnal Noted. Part I (London: Novello, Ewer and Co., and Masters and Son, 1852), Part II (London: Novello and Co., Joseph Masters and J. T. Hayes, 1858), #18, pp. 80-81.

Sheet Music to the Sequence:

Sheet Music to Tunes 1 and 2 from Rev. John Mason Neale and Rev. Thomas Helmore, eds., Hymnal Noted, Part I. (London: Novello & Co., 1852), Part II (London: Novello & Co., 1856), #72, pp. 140-141.

Sheet Music from Thomas Helmore, Accompanying Harmonies to the Hymnal Noted. Part I (London: Novello, Ewer and Co., and Masters and Son, 1852), Part II (London: Novello and Co., Joseph Masters and J. T. Hayes, 1858), #72, pp. 226-231.

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