155. Jesus, the very thought of Thee
Ascribed to Bernard of Clairvaux, 1091-1153
Tr. Edward Caswall, 1814-78
“This may well be called the sweetest and most evangelical hymn of the Middle Ages.... It breathes the deepest love to Christ, as the fountain of all peace and comfort, and the sum of all that is pure and lovely.”—Philip Schaff.
It is from the famous medieval hymn “Jesu, dulcis memoria,” which David Livingstone used to repeat as he explored Africa: “That hymn of St. Bernard, on the name of Christ, although in what might be termed dog-Latin, pleases me so: it rings in my ears as I wander across the wide, wide wilderness.” Its beauty has charmed many others who are familiar with the Latin. The original poem has fifty quatrains, of which our hymn is a selection of the following five:
Iesus dulcis memoria,
Dans vera cordis gaudia;
Sed super mel et omnia
Dulcis eius praesentia.
Nil canitur suavius,
Auditur nil iucundius,
Nil cogitatur dulcius,
Quam Iesus, Dei Filius.
Iesu, spes paenitentibus,
Quem pius es pententibus,
Quam bonus te quaerentibus!
Sed quid invenientibus.
Nec lingua potest dicere,
Nec littera exprimere;
Experto potes credere,
Quid sit Iesum diligere.
Tu esto nostrum gaudium,
Qui es futurus praemium;
Sit nostra in te gloria
Per cuncta semper saecula.
It is usually attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (See [539]), but many authorities now question the authorship. Percy Dearmer says in Songs of Praise Discussed that “it is not by St. Bernard.... St. Bernard of Clairvaux was born 1091 and the poem itself has been found in a manuscript of the 11th century.” In further commenting on the authorship he says, “We really know nothing and are not likely to know.”
The translation here is by Edward Caswall.
For comments on Caswall see [Hymn 19].
A translation of a different cento of the same hymn, by Ray Palmer, is found at [No. 171].
MUSIC. ST. AGNES was written for this hymn in A Hymnal for Use in the English Church, 1866, edited by Rev. J. Grey. In England it is called “St. Agnes, Durham,” to distinguish it from the tune, “Langran” ([303]) which is known in England as “St. Agnes.”
For comments on the composer, John B. Dykes, see [Hymn 1].