Crossman did not write his poem as a hymn. It appeared in 1664 in a tiny book, The Young Man’s Meditation, of 16mo (sextodecimo) format, with 17 pages of text. The title page quoted Herbert by ...

The words of this hymn are based on a Middle Irish poem. which was translated into English by Eleanor Hull. Since 1919, it has been paired to an Irish folk tune “Slane”. This lovely hymn works ...

The text of this hymn is taken from a longer poem, “The Brewing of Soma”, by the American Quaker poet, John Whittier. The poem tells of priests brewing and drinking Soma (a sacred ritual drink ...