1. Breathe on me, Breath of God, Fill me with life anew, That I may love what Thou dost love, And do what Thou wouldst do. 2. Breathe on me, Breath of God, Until my heart is pure, Until my will is one with Thine, To do and to endure. 3. Breathe on me, Breath of God, Till I am wholly Thine, Until this earthly part of me Glows with Thy fire divine. 4. Breathe on me, Breath of God, So shall I never die, But live with Thee the perfect life Of Thine eternity.
Lyrics: Edwin Hatch
Music: Robert Jackson
Tune: TRENTHAM
Meter: S.M.
Edwin Hatch, 1835–1889
The author of this hymn, Edwin Hatch, was an Anglican minister. He also served for a time as a professor of the classics at Trinity College in Canada. Dr. Hatch was widely known for his scholarship and lectures in early church history. Despite his scholarly attainments, Hatch was said to have possessed a faith as “simple and unaffected as a child’s.”
This text first appeared in 1878 in a pamphlet titled “Between Doubt and Prayer.” The hymn in its present form appeared later in the Psalmist Hymnal, published in 1886.