Delay Not, Delay Not, O Sinner, Draw Near in Tonic Solfa
Delay Not, Delay Not, O Sinner, Draw Near in Tonic Solfa to GORDON, doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 5 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dDe-- | mlay---fnot,-fde-- | mlay--r_dnot,-mO- |
| rsin----t,ner,-t,draw- | dnear,-----dThe- |
| mwa----fters-fof- | mlife--r_dare-mnow- |
| rflow----t,ing-t,for- | dthee;-----mNo- |
| sprice---lis-sde-- | fmand--med-r_-s,the- |
| mSa--s_-fvior-ris- | dhere---t,_-dRe-- |
| mdemp----ftion-fis- | mpur---r_dchased,-msal-- |
| sva--f_-mtion-ris- | dfree.----- |
Got your choir's recording? Get it in solfa →
Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (F)
- Range
- s, to l (C to D, a ninth)
- Tune
- GORDON
- Words
- Thomas Hastings
Tune GORDON by Adoniram Judson Gordon (1836–1895); words by Thomas Hastings (1784–1872). Sources and licences.
The solfa line by line
The same solfa as plain text, a line of the hymn at a time, with the words of the first verse under it — easy to copy into your own notes or a message to the choir. To print it, download the solfa as a PDF.
Doh is F · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in F major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Delay not, delay not, O sinner, draw near,
The waters of life are now flowing for thee;
No price is demanded; the Savior is here;
Redemption is purchased, salvation is free.
Delay not, delay not, why longer abuse
The love and compassion of Jesus, thy God?
A fountain is opened; how canst thou refuse
To wash and be cleansed in His pardoning blood?
Delay not, delay not, O sinner, to come,
For mercy still lingers and calls thee to-day;
Her voice is not heard in the vale of the tomb;
Her message, unheeded, will soon pass away.
Delay not, delay not, the Spirit of Grace,
Long grieved and resisted, may take its sad flight
And leave thee in darkness to finish thy race,
To sink in the gloom of eternity’s night.
Delay not, delay not, the hour is at hand;
The earth shall dissolve, and the heavens shall fade;
The dead, small and great, in the Judgment shall stand;
What power then, O sinner, shall lend thee its aid?
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum F and sing d r m f s up from it, so the whole choir has the key in their ears before you start.
- Pitch the first note. The tune starts on d (F), on the first syllable of “Delay”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 4/4 means four crotchet beats in each bar. In the grid every cell is half a crotchet: a dash (–) holds the note before it, and _ is a rest.
- Know the notes. The tune uses d r m f s l t. A comma after a note (s,) is the octave below; an apostrophe (d') is the octave above.
New to solfa? Read how to read Tonic Solfa and how to find the doh of a song.
About the hymn
Thomas Hastings wrote these words. They were printed in the Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (St. Louis, 1927), as hymn 57.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Elevens (11.11.11.11), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to GORDON; any other Elevens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Thomas Hastings (1784–1872)
- Music (1876): Adoniram Judson Gordon (1836–1895)
Tune GORDON by Adoniram Judson Gordon (1836–1895); words by Thomas Hastings (1784–1872).
Sung to the same tune: How Dear Is the Thought, That the Angels of God, My Jesus, I Love Thee.
Questions about Delay Not, Delay Not, O Sinner, Draw Near
What is the doh of Delay Not, Delay Not, O Sinner, Draw Near?
In this version, in F major, doh is F. If your choir sings it in another key, doh moves to the new key note and every solfa syllable stays the same — that is what movable doh means.
What note does Delay Not, Delay Not, O Sinner, Draw Near start on?
It starts on d (F in F major), a pickup on the first syllable of “Delay” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Delay Not, Delay Not, O Sinner, Draw Near in the public domain?
Yes. Thomas Hastings died in 1872, Adoniram Judson Gordon died in 1895; the words were in print by 1927 and the music in 1876. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in the UK, the EU, the United States and Nigeria. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.