Hymn #489
Text: John Fawcett (1739/40-1817)
Music: Sicilian melody, published in 1794
Tune name: SICILIAN MARINERS
THE TEXT
It’s not certain that the English Baptist minister John Fawcett wrote this hymn, but since it was published anonymously in 1773, Fawcett has been everybody’s the guess as the author.
1 Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing;
fill our hearts with joy and peace;
let us each, thy love possessing,
triumph in redeeming grace.
O refresh us, O refresh us,
trav’ling through this wilderness.
2 Thanks we give and adoration
for thy Gospel’s joyful sound:
may the fruits of thy salvation
in our hearts and lives abound:
ever faithful, ever faithful
to the truth may we be found.
3 So that when thy love shall call us,
Savior, from the world away,
let no fear of death appall us,
glad thy summons to obey:
may we ever, may we ever
reign with thee in endless day.
THE TUNE
The tune’s name — SICILIAN MARINERS — reflects the fact that the melody was written down by the German poet, Johann Gottfried von Herder after a trip to Italy in the late 18th century. Whether the sailors in question ever actually sang this tune remains a mystery.
Below is Andrew Remillard’s rendition of this hymn on piano.