George Matheson: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

O, Love That Will Not Let Me Go

George Matheson

“O, Love That Will Not Let Me Go” as printed in The Canadian Soldiers' Song Book (1918).

George Matheson: Collected Lyrics Text 1 1918 · historical text
Public domainSoldier songHistorical song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Canadian Soldiers' Song Book, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

O Love that will not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in Thee;

I give Thee back the life I owe,

That in Thine ocean depths its flow

May richer, fuller be.

Verse 2

O Light that followest all my way,

I yield my flickering torch to Thee;

My heart restores its borrowed ray,

That, in Thy sunshine blaze, its day

May brighter, fairer be.

Verse 3

O Joy that seekest me through pain,

I cannot close my heart to Thee;

I trace the rainbow through the rain,

And feel the promise is not vain

That morn shall tearless be.

Verse 4

O Cross that liftest up my head,

I dare not ask to fly from Thee;

I lay in dust life's glory dead,

And from the ground there blossoms red

Life that shall endless be.Amen.

Credits

Written by George Matheson

Words by George Matheson. Historical text published in The Canadian Soldiers' Song Book (1918); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Canadian Soldiers' Song Book (1918), “O, Love That Will Not Let Me Go”

The 1918 published edition is in the public domain in the United States (pre-1931 publication). Entries whose credited author died more than 70 years ago are also in the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions; other entries are held.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-12. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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