Bible Songs — Invitation

Nothing But Leaves

Nothing but leaves! The Spirit grieves

No. 1266
Tune NOTHING BUT LEAVES.
Words L. E. A.
Music Silas J. Vail.
Key E-flat major
Singing key E♭ major
Time 6/8
4 stanzas

Words

Nothing but leaves! The Spirit grievesO'er years of wasted life;O'er sins indulged while conscience slept,O'er vows and promises unkept,And reaps from years of strife—Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves!

Nothing but leaves! No gathered sheaves,Of life's fair ripening grain:We sow our seeds; lo! tares and weeds,—Words, idle words, for earnest deeds,—Then reap, with toil and pain,Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves!

Nothing but leaves! Sad memory weavesNo vail to hide the past;And as we trace our weary way,And count each lost and misspent day,We sadly find at last—Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves!

Ah, who shall thus the Master meet,And bring but withered leaves?Ah, who shall at the Saviour's feet,Before the awful judgment seatLay down for golden sheaves,Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves!

About this hymn

As printed As printed: hymn number «1266» (large, left), title «NOTHING BUT LEAVES.» centred (condensed capitals and small capitals, «Nothing But Leaves.»); on the next line «L. E. A.» at the left (words), the epigraph «"And when he came to it he found nothing but leaves."—Mark 11 : 13.» in the centre (old-style figures) and «SILAS J. VAIL.» at the right (music, capitals and small capitals). No meter, no tune name other than the title, no reference line, no footer. All four stanzas are interlinear, numbered «1.»–«4.», between the staves of the three systems; no «REFRAIN» or «CHORUS» word is printed — the closing «Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves!» stands at the end of each of the four lines under system 3. Each printed line of words carries two verse lines; they are given here one verse line per line (line 1 + line 2 under system 1, the «O'er / We / And / Ah,» that ends system 1 opening line 3; lines 3–4 under system 2, its last word «And / Then / We / Lay» opening line 5; line 5 and the refrain under system 3). In stanza 2 «idle» is printed in italics («i - dle»). «Nothing» (stanzas 1–3 and the refrain), «gathered» (stanza 2), «indulged» and «conscience» (stanza 1) are printed whole under two notes; «ripen - ing» is printed with «ripen» under one note and «mem-ory» with «ory» under one note. The print sets a thin space before «!», «;», «:» and «?» («leaves !», «life ;», «grain :», «leaves ?», «11 : 13»); it is closed up here; curly quotes and apostrophes are written straight. Spelling and punctuation are the print's («O'er», «vail», «Saviour's», «judgment seat», «weeds,—», «deeds,—», «strife—», «last—»).