Scripture Verse

You know that I love You. John 21:17

Introduction

Words: Jo­han­nes Kel­pi­us, be­fore 1705 (Ich liebe Je­sus noch al­lein). Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Chris­to­pher Witt be­fore 1705.

Music: The Best Choice, ano­ny­mous, be­fore 1705 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a bet­ter pic­ture of Kel­pi­us,

portrait
Johannes Kelpius (1677–1708)

Lyrics

I love my Je­sus quite alone.
The Bride, the Bride­groom of my spir­it;
No oth­ers shall my heart, no, none,
Through love, through lov­ing more in­her­it.
No man can do at once for two.
For one’s, for one’s will and for t’oth­ers:
Therefore I’ll leave all oth­ers.

The mag­net nee­dle err­ing goes,
When from, when from the pole dis­tract­ed.
And take be­fore quite no re­pose,
Till he, till he has her at­tract­ed.
And since my heart with Thy love dart
Is touched, is touched by its flam­ing eth­er,
Therefore, they haste to­ge­ther.

And though Thou art like the north star
In Heav…in Hea­ven al­ti­fied
And I on earth so dist­ant far
I’ll fol…I’ll fol­low un­den­ied.
Still Thee my Light, and my eyesight.
Shall still, shall still be turned to Thee,
From ev­ery place, and woo Thee.