The Church — Zeal and Union

How blest the sacred tie that binds

No. 1013
Metre L. M.
Tune CAPTIVITY.
Words Anna Barbauld.
Music Thomas Hastings.
Key D major
Time 2/4
4 stanzas

Words

How blest the sacred tie that bindsIn sweet communion kindred minds!How swift the heavenly course they run,Whose hearts, whose faith, whose hopes, are one!

To each the soul of each how dear!What tender love! what holy fear!How does the generous flame withinRefine from earth and cleanse from sin!

Their streaming eyes together flowFor human guilt and human woe;Their ardent prayers together rise,Like mingling flames in sacrifice.

Together oft they seek the placeWhere God reveals his shining face;How high, how strong, their raptures swellThere 's none but kindred souls can tell.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «THE CHURCH—ZEAL AND UNION.»; hymn number «1013» (large), tune name «CAPTIVITY. L. M.» centred over the music (condensed capitals and small capitals), «THOMAS HASTINGS.» at the right in the composer slot (capitals and small capitals). No reference line and no margin note. Stanza 1 is interlinear, between the staves, one line per system, with «1.» before «How»: «1. How blest the sa - cred tie that binds In sweet commun - ion kin-dred minds!» under system 1 and «How swift the heavenly course they run, Whose hearts, whose faith, whose hopes, are one!» under system 2 («commun» is printed as one block under two notes, «heavenly» as one word under a quarter and a pair of eighths). Stanzas 2–4 are printed as text in two columns below the music, numbered «2»–«4» without periods (written «2.»–«4.» here, as in the other deliveries of this book): stanza 2 and the first two lines of stanza 3 in the left column, the last two lines of stanza 3 and stanza 4 in the right column; the lines are set flush. «Anna Barbauld.» in italics, right-aligned, after stanza 4. The print sets a thin space before «!» and «;» («minds !», «one !», «dear !», «love !», «fear !», «sin !», «woe ;», «face ;»); it is closed up here. «There 's» (stanza 4, line 4) is printed with a space before the apostrophe and is kept so, as in hymns 83 and 93. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's.