Jesu, the very thought is sweet

Jesu, the very thought is sweet. Latin, probably 12th century, translated by John Mason Neale* (1818-1866). The Latin text begins ‘Iesu dulcis memoria’*. Neale’s translation is from the text in the Sarum Use, sometimes given the name of ‘the rosy sequence’, as in NEH. It was printed in The Hymnal Noted Part I (1851), and (with alterations) in the First Edition of A&M, where Edward Caswall*’s translation, ‘Jesu! the very thought of Thee’*, is also to be found. Neale is closer to the Latin than Caswall in stanza 1, for he keeps the ‘honey’ (‘mel’) image: Sed super mel et omnia Dulcis eius praesentia. But Oh! than honey sweeter far The glimpses of His Presence are.   The version in...