Steal away to Jesus

Steal away to Jesus. African American spiritual*. In common with many African American spirituals, ‘the first strain is of the nature of a chorus or refrain, which is to be sung after each verse’ (Marsh/Loudin, 1898, p. 159). The pentatonic melody, harmonizations, and text exist in different versions (an account of the origin of this spiritual is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Willis). One version is  exemplified by the Fisk Jubilee Singers*’ text consisting of the refrain, ‘Steal away, steal away to Jesus,/Steal away, steal away home,/ I hain’t got long to stay here’, and four stanzas: ‘My Lord calls me, He calls me by the thunder’ ‘Green trees are bending, Poor sinners stand...