Scripture Verse

Love one another as I have loved you. John 13:34

Introduction

Words: R. F. Full­er, in The Prize, by George Root (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Root & Ca­dy, 1870), page 45.

Music: Olsz­tyn George F. Root, 1870 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Full­er’s full name, or where to get a good pho­to of him (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
George F. Root (1820–1895)

Lyrics

I want to be an an­gel,
Before I mount above,
An an­gel in my spir­it
And in­flu­ence of love.
Beneath my eve­ry foot­step
I want the flow­ers to spring,
In deeds of lov­ing kind­ness,
And good for ev­ery­thing.

I want to span my fore­head
A bow of pro­mise bright,
That ev­ery cloud of sorrow
May kin­dle in­to light.
Above the earth, but in it,
I want my ways to wend,
To keep my­self un­spot­ted,
And help to oth­ers lend.

I want to love like an­gels,
And be be­loved again,
And bring the boons of Hea­ven
To bless my fel­low men.
God’s love, in all my mea­sure,
To give again I want.
A heart­ful, heav­en­ly Fa­ther,
For my re­li­gion grant.