Blest are the pure in heart

Blest are the pure in heart. John Keble* (1792-1866), and William John Hall* (1793-1861)/ Edward Osler* (1798-1863). The text of this hymn is normally one of four stanzas, beginning as follows: Blest are the pure in heart The Lord who left the heavens Still to the lowly soul Lord, we thy presence seek Stanzas 1 and 3 were taken from a poem by Keble dated 10 October 1819. It was entitled ‘The Purification of St Mary the Virgin’, with the sub-heading ‘“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” - St Matthew 5: 8’. It was subsequently published in Keble’s The Christian Year (1827), entitled ‘The Purification’. It had 17 stanzas, of which these were the first and the last. In The...