 English text
1. Come, O thou traveler unknown,
Whom still I hold, but cannot see,
My company before is gone,
And I am left alone with thee,
With thee all night I mean to stay,
And wrestle till the break of day.
2. I need not tell thee who I am,
My misery, or sin declare,
Thyself hast call’d me by my name,
Look on thy hands, and read it there,
But who, I ask thee, who art thou,
Tell me thy name, and tell me now?
3. In vain thou strugglest to get free,
I never will unloose my hold:
Art thou the man that died for me?
The secret of thy love unfold;
Wrestling I will not let thee go,
Till I thy name, thy nature know.
4. Wilt thou not yet to me reveal
Thy new, unutterable name?
Tell me, I still beseech thee, tell,
To know it now resolved I am;
Wrestling I will not let thee go,
Till I thy name, thy nature know.
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5. ’Tis all in vain to hold thy tongue,
Or touch the hollow of my thigh:
Though every sinew be unstrung,
Out of my arms thou shalt not fly;
Wrestling I will not let thee go,
Till I thy name, thy nature know.
6. What though my shrinking flesh complain,
And murmur to contend so long,
I rise superior to my pain,
When I am weak then I am strong,
And when my all of strength shall fail,
I shall with the God-man prevail.
7. My strength is gone, my nature dies,
I sink beneath thy weighty hand,
Faint to revive, and fall to rise;
I fall, and yet by faith I stand,
I stand, and will not let thee go,
Till I thy name, thy nature know.
8. Yield to me now — for I am weak;
But confident in self-despair:
Speak to my heart, in blessings speak,
Be conquered by my instant prayer,
Speak, or thou never hence shalt move,
And tell me, if thy name is love.
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9. ’Tis love, ’tis love! Thou died for me,
I hear thy whisper in my heart.
The morning breaks, the shadows flee:
Pure universal love thou art,
To me, to all thy bowels move,
Thy nature, and thy name is love.
10. My prayer hath power with God; the grace
Unspeakable I now receive,
Through faith I see thee face to face,
I see thee face to face, and live:
In vain I have not wept, and strove,
Thy nature, and thy name is love.
11. I know thee, Savior, who thou art,
Jesus, the feeble sinner’s friend;
Nor wilt thou with the night depart,
But stay, and love me to the end;
Thy mercies never shall remove,
Thy nature, and thy name is love.
12. The sun of righteousness on me
Hath rose with healing in his wings,
Wither’d my nature’s strength; from thee
My soul its life and succor brings,
My help is all laid up above;
Thy nature, and thy name is love.
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13. Contented now upon my thigh
I halt, till life’s short journey end;
All helplessness, all weakness I,
On thee alone for strength depend,
Nor have I power, from thee, to move;
Thy nature, and thy name is love.
14. Lame as I am, I take the prey,
Hell, earth, and sin with ease o’er-come;
I leap for joy, pursue my way,
And as a bounding hart fly home,
Through all eternity to prove
Thy nature, and thy name is love.
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