Text by Bianco da Siena
Come down, O Love divine,
Seek Thou this soul of mine,
And visit it with Thine own ardour glowing;
O Comforter, draw near,
Within my heart appear,
and kindle it, Thy holy flame bestowing.
O let it freely burn
Till earthly passions turn
To dust and ashes in its heat consuming:
And let Thy glorious light
Shine ever on my sight,
And clothe me round, the while my path illuming.
Let holy charity
Mine outward vesture be,
And lowliness become my inner clothing,
True lowliness of heart,
Which takes the humbler part,
And o'er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.
And so the yearning strong,
With which the soul will long,
Shall far outpass the power of human telling;
For none can guess its grace,
Till he become the place
Wherein the Holy Spirit makes His dwelling.
"Come Down, O Love Divine" è un inno cristiano solitamente cantato per la festa di Pentecoste . Fa riferimento alla discesa dello Spirito Santo essendo un' invocazione a Dio affinché entri nell'anima del credente. È un brano popolare della musica sacra anglicana ed è comunemente cantato sulla melodia "Down Ampney", composta nel 1906 da Ralph Vaughan Williams .Il testo ha origine da una poesia italiana, "Discendi amor santo", del poeta mistico medievale Bianco da Siena (1350-1399).
