1. O perfect love, all human thought transcending, Lowly we kneel in prayer before Thy throne, That theirs may be the love which knows no ending, Whom Thou forevermore dost join in one. 2. O perfect Life, be Thou their full assurance Of tender charity and steadfast faith, Of patient hope and quiet, brave endurance, With childlike trust that fears nor pain nor death. 3. Grant them the joy which brightens earthly sorrow; Grant them the peace which calms all earthly strife, And to life's day the glorious unknown morrow That dawns upon eternal love and life. 4. Hear us, O Father, gracious and forgiving, Through Jesus Christ, Thy coeternal Word, Who, with the Holy Ghost, by all things living Now and to endless ages art adored.
Lyrics: Dorothy Frances Blomfield Gurney
Music:
Joseph Barnby
Tune: SANDRINGHAM
Meter: 11.10.11.10.
Dorothy B. Gurney, 1858–1932
Dorothy Gurney, an English woman, was asked by her sister, who was soon to be married, if she would try writing some suitable words for a favorite hymn tune that could be used at the wedding. Dorothy went off by herself for only 15 minutes and returned with the text of “O Perfect Love.” Her sister was delighted with it and insisted that it be sung at the wedding.
Mrs. Gurney stated that the writing of the hymn “was no effort whatever after the initial idea had come to me of the two-fold aspect of perfect union—love and life—and I have always felt that God helped me write it.” Although this was the only hymn she wrote, it has been recognized as one of the finest wedding texts in the English language.