John Greenleaf Whittier: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Hymn ("O Holy Father! just and true")

John Greenleaf Whittier

“Hymn ("O Holy Father! just and true")” as printed in The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895).

John Greenleaf Whittier: Collected Lyrics Text 53 1895 · historical text
Public domainBalladAmerican song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

O Holy Father! just and true

Are all Thy works and words and ways,

And unto Thee alone are due

Thanksgiving and eternal praise!

As children of Thy gracious care,

We veil the eye, we bend the knee,

With broken words of praise and prayer,

Father and God, we come to Thee.

For Thou hast heard, O God of Right,

The sighing of the island slave;

And stretched for him the arm of might,

Not shortened that it could not save.

The laborer sits beneath his vine,

The shackled soul and hand are free;

Thanksgiving! for the work is Thine!

Praise! for the blessing is of Thee!

And oh, we feel Thy presence here,

Thy awful arm in judgment bare!

Thine eye hath seen the bondman’s tear;

Thine ear hath heard the bondman’s prayer.

Praise! for the pride of man is low,

The counsels of the wise are naught,

The fountains of repentance flow;

What hath our God in mercy wrought?

Speed on Thy work, Lord God of Hosts!

And when the bondman’s chain is riven,

And swells from all our guilty coasts

The anthem of the free to Heaven,

Oh, not to those whom Thou hast led,

As with Thy cloud and fire before,

But unto Thee, in fear and dread,

Be praise and glory evermore.

Credits

Written by John Greenleaf Whittier

Words by John Greenleaf Whittier. Historical text published in The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895), “Hymn ("O Holy Father! just and true")”

Every text in this 1895 collected edition is by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), who died more than 133 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide; the edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

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Retrieved 2026-10-27. 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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