Bible Songs — Miscellaneous

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah!

No. 1218
Tune GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH!
Words Rev. Wm. Williams.
Music T. C. O'Kane.
Key F major
Singing key E♭ major
Time 4/4
3 stanzas

Words

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah!Pilgrim thro' this barren land;I am weak, but thou art mighty,Hold me with thy pow'rful hand.Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,Feed me till I want no more,Feed me till I want no more, want no more;Feed me till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountainWhence the healing waters flow,Let the fiery, cloudy pillar,Lead me all my journey through.Strong Deliv'rer, strong Deliv'rer,Be thou still my strength and shield,Be thou still my strength and shield, strength and shield;Be thou still my strength and shield.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,Bid my anxious fears subside;Bear me thro' the swelling current,Land me safe on Canaan's side.Songs of praises, songs of praises,I will ever give to thee,I will ever give to thee, give to thee;I will ever give to thee.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: hymn number «1218» (large, left), title «GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH!» centred (condensed capitals with larger initials, ending with «!»); under it «REV. WM. WILLIAMS,» at the left, the epigraph «"For thy name's sake guide me."—Ps. 31 : 3.» in the middle and «T. C. O'KANE,» at the right (names in capitals and small capitals, each ending with a comma); «Moderato.» in bold italics over the start of the music. No meter, reference line or running head is printed. The three stanzas are printed interlinear through the whole song (four systems; «1.»–«3.» before the rows of system 1); the closing lines («Bread of heaven, … Feed me till I want no more.») have their own words in each stanza, so there is no separate refrain. In systems 1–3 the tenor and bass have their own rhythm and the same words are printed a second time under the bass staff (three more rows); in system 4 only the rows between the staves are printed. «By permission.» stands under the music, above the page number «436». The print sets a thin space before «!», «;» and «:» («vah !», «land ;», «more ;», «31 : 3»); it is closed up here. Words divided under the notes are joined («Je-ho-vah», «bar-ren», «crys-tal», «fount-ain», «wa-ters», «anx-ious», «sub-side», «might-y», «fie-ry», «cloud-y», «pil-lar», «cur-rent», «pow'r-ful», «jour-ney», «Ca-naan's», «heav-en», «De-liv-'rer», «prais-es», «ev-er» → «Jehovah», «barren», «crystal», «fountain», «waters», «anxious», «subside», «mighty», «fiery», «cloudy», «pillar», «current», «pow'rful», «journey», «Canaan's», «heaven», «Deliv'rer», «praises», «ever»; the bass rows print «pow'rful» and «Deliv'rer» solid, which confirms the joined forms). Each stanza is set in its verse lines as sung under the music, each beginning with a capital as printed (the print runs the lines on). Spelling («thro'», «pow'rful», «Deliv'rer»), punctuation and capitals are the print's.