1. Dear Lord and Father of mankind, Forgive our foolish ways! Reclothe us in our rightful mind; In purer lives Thy service find, In deeper rev'rence, praise. 2. In simple trust like theirs who heard, Beside the Syrian sea, The gracious calling of the Lord, Let us, like them, without a word, Rise up and follow Thee. 3. Drop Thy still dews of quietness, Till all our strivings cease; Take from our souls the strain and stress, And let our ordered lives confess The beauty of Thy peace. 4. Breathe through the heats of our desire Thy coolness and Thy balm; Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire; Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire, O still, small voice of calm!
Lyrics: John Greenleaf Whittier
Music:
Frederick Charles Maker
Tune: REST
Meter: 8.6.8.8.6.
John Greenleaf Whittier, 1807–1892
John Greenleaf Whittier, “America’s beloved Quaker poet,” was a good example of quiet godly life in his speech, dress, and writings. It has been said that he “left upon our literature the stamp of genius and upon our religion the touch of sanity.”
“A good hymn is the best use to which poetry can be devoted, though I do not claim to have succeeded in writing one,” wrote Whittier. Hymnal editors, however, have collected and edited enough of his poems to make seventy-five hymns.