Fill thou my life (Charles Hubert Hastings Parry)

From ChoralWiki

English text

1.

Fill Thou my life, O Lord my God,

In every part with praise,

That my whole being may proclaim

Thy being and Thy ways.

Not for the lip of praise alone,

Nor e’en the praising heart

I ask, but for a life made up

Of praise in every part!

2.

Praise in the common words I speak,

Life’s common looks and tones,

In fellowship in hearth and board

With my belovèd ones;

Not in the temple crowd alone

Where holy voices chime,

But in the silent paths of earth,

The quiet rooms of time.

3.

Fill every part of me with praise;

Let all my being speak

Of Thee and of Thy love, O Lord,

Poor though I be, and weak.

So shalt Thou, Lord, from me, e’en me,

Receive the glory due;

And so shall I begin on earth

The song forever new.

4.

So shall each fear, each fret, each care

Be turned into a song,

And every winding of the way

The echo shall prolong;

So shall no part of day or night

From sacredness be free;

But all my life, in every step

Be fellowship with Thee.

Lyrics: Ho­ra­ti­us Bo­nar, Hymns of Faith and Hope, third ser­ies, 1866