My Spirit Longs For Thee Non-US copyright
SATB a cappella. Text by John Byrom. Lush and beautiful in a homophonic, hymnlike, "English-style" strophic setting.
Notes: A simple and very effective introit or communion anthem. It would be worth practicing some individual lines as some of the intervals may need looking at, particularly in the tenor part. Singers need to think of the verses in two four-bar phrases and stagger the breathing to accomplish a smooth line. Singers should be encouraged to build a sensitive flexibility into the phrases and adhere to the dynamic ebb and flow.
My Spirit longs for thee
Within my troubled breast
Though I unworthy be
Of so divine a guest.
Of so divine a guest
Unworthy though I be
Yet has my heart no rest
Unless it come from thee.
Unless it come from thee
In vain I look around
In all that I can see
No rest is to be found.
No rest is to be found
But in thy blessed love
O let my wish be crowned
And send it from above.