Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear

Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear. John Keble* (1792-1866). This is the complementary hymn to ‘New every morning is the love’*, from The Christian Year (1827). It is a selection of stanzas taken from the companion poem to ‘Morning’, entitled ‘Evening’. The poem began ‘’Tis gone, that bright and orbed blaze’. It was preceded by the quotation ‘Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. St. Luke xxiv. 29.’ The compilers of A&M (1861) used stanzas 3, 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13 of the original 14, and this has remained the usual text. It has become a much-loved traditional evening hymn, sung to a number of tunes: H.S. Oakeley* wrote ABENDS for this hymn in the Irish Church...