Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life
Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life. George Herbert* (1593-1633).
From Herbert’s collection The Temple (Cambridge, 1633), published just after his death, this poem was first used as a hymn in the Oxford Hymn Book (1908), and then in SofP. Herbert’s original title for the piece was ‘The Call’ and, in a neat inversion of the traditional idea that God calls us, Herbert makes this call a personal plea for God, through Jesus, to heal and enrich his life.
The poem takes as its starting point Jesus’ assertion in John 14: 6 that he is ‘the Way, the Truth and the Life’ which Herbert instantly personalises (‘my way, my truth, my life’) to show the intimacy he craves. Each of the attributes mentioned in...
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MLA style (see MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd Ed.)
. "Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press. Web. 24 May. 2025.<
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/c/come,-my-way,-my-truth,-my-life>.
Chicago style (see The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Ed.)
. "Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed May 24, 2025,
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/c/come,-my-way,-my-truth,-my-life.