"Come Down, O Love Divine" is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

usually sung for the

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

. It makes reference to the descent of the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

as an invocation to God to come to into the soul of the believer. It is a popular piece of

Anglican church music Anglican church music is music that is written for Christian worship in Anglican religious services, forming part of the liturgy. It mostly consists of pieces written to be sung by a church choir, which may sing ''a cappella'' or accompanied b ...

and is commonly sung to the tune "Down Ampney" by

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

or the less weel-known tune

North Petherton North Petherton is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the edge of the eastern foothills of the Quantocks, and close to the edge of the Somerset Levels. The town has a population of 6,730 as of 2014. The parish includes Ha ...

William Henry Harris Sir William Henry Harris (28 March 1883 – 6 September 1973) was an England, English organ (music), organist, choral trainer and composer. Early life and education Harris was born in Fulham, London and became a chorister at Holy Trinity Chur ...

History

The text of "Come down, O Love divine" originated as an Italian poem, "Discendi amor santo" by the medieval mystic poet

Bianco da Siena Bianco di Santi alias Bianco da Siena or Bianco da Lanciolina (Anciolina, 1350 circa - Venice, 1399) was an Italian mystic poet and an imitator of Jacopone da Todi. He wrote several religiously-inspired poems ( lauda) that were popular in the Mid ...

(1350-1399). The poem appeared in the 1851 collection ''Laudi Spirituali del Bianco da Siena'' of Telesforo Bini, and in 1861, the

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

clergyman and writer

Richard Frederick Littledale Richard Frederick Littledale (14 September 1833 – 11 January 1890) was an Anglo-Irish clergyman and writer. Life The fourth son of John Littledale, an auctioneer, he was born in Dublin on 14 September 1833. On 15 October 1850 he entered Trinit ...

translated it into English. The first publication of the English version was in Littledale's 1867 hymn-book, ''The People's Hymnal''. For the hymn's publication in ''

The English Hymnal ''The English Hymnal'' is a hymn book which was published in 1906 for the Church of England by Oxford University Press. It was edited by the clergyman and writer Percy Dearmer and the composer and music historian Ralph Vaughan Williams, and ...

'' of 1906, the hymnal's editor

composed a tune, "Down Ampney", which he named after the Gloucestershire village of his birth. This publication established the hymn's widespread popularity. When Vaughan Williams died in 1958, "Come Down, O Love Divine" was sung at his funeral in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

as the composer's ashes were ceremonially interred in the Musicians' Corner.

Text

Come down, O Love divine, Seek Thou this soul of mine, And visit it with Thine own ardour glowing; O Comforter, draw near, Within my heart appear, and kindle it, Thy holy flame bestowing. O let it freely burn Till earthly passions turn To dust and ashes in its heat consuming: And let Thy glorious light Shine ever on my sight, And clothe me round, the while my path illuming. Let holy charity Mine outward vesture be, And lowliness become my inner clothing, True lowliness of heart, Which takes the humbler part, And o'er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing. And so the yearning strong, With which the soul will long, Shall far outpass the power of human telling; For none can guess its grace, Till he become the place Wherein the Holy Spirit makes His dwelling.

Tune

The following setting of the tune appears in

(1906): << << \new Staff \new Lyrics \lyricmode \new Staff >> >> \layout \midi

References

Citations

Sources