Bible Songs — Miscellaneous

Closer to thee, my Father, draw me

No. 1199
Tune DRAW ME CLOSER TO THEE.
Words Mrs. E. W. Chapman.
Music J. H. Tenney.
Key A major
Time 4/4
3 stanzas

Words

Closer to thee, my Father, draw me,I long for thine embrace;Closer within thine arms enfold me,I seek a resting place.

Chorus. (soprano and alto — the upper line)Closer with the cords of love,Draw me to thyself above;Closer draw me,To thyself above.

(tenor and bass — the lower line, sung at the same time)Closer, closer with the cords of love,Draw me, draw me to thyself above;Closer with the cords of love,Draw me to thyself above,Draw me to thyself above.

Closer to thee, my Saviour, draw me,Nor let me leave thee more;Fain would I feel thine arms around me,And count my wand'rings o'er.

Closer by thy sweet Spirit draw me,Till I am all like thee;Quicken, refine, and wash, and cleanse me,Till I am pure and free.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: no running head on this page; hymn number «1199» (large, left), title «DRAW ME CLOSER TO THEE.» centred (condensed capitals and small capitals); under it the epigraph «"And I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me."—Jer. 30 : 21.» centred; on the next line «MRS. E. W. CHAPMAN.» at the left (words) and «J. H. TENNEY.» at the right (music), in capitals and small capitals. No meter and no reference line are printed (the stanza is 9.6.9.6). All three stanzas are interlinear, numbered «1.»–«3.», in systems 1–2. «CHORUS.» stands over the music at the start of system 3; the chorus has TWO lines of words, printed once and sung after every stanza: the upper line belongs to the soprano and alto (long notes on the treble staff), the lower line to the tenor and bass (quarters and eighths on the bass staff); see `lyrics_syllables.txt` for the lines as printed. Under the music, centred: «By permission.» (at the left of the same line, «27», a printer's signature mark, not part of the hymn). Words printed whole under two or more notes («thyself above», «Closer») and the syllable divisions are recorded in `lyrics_syllables.txt`; here the words are joined; «Andcountmy» (stanza 2, set tight) is «And count my». Curly quotes are written straight. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's («Saviour», «Spirit», «wand'rings», «o'er»; no comma after «Spirit» in stanza 3).