O Thou, in Whom the Weary Find in Tonic Solfa

O Thou, in Whom the Weary Find in Tonic Solfa to SELENA, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.

The solfa with the words

Doh is Ab3/2
sO-sThou,-sin-lwhom-----sthe-swea--fery-sfind-----tA--tlone-d'their-
r'per------d'ma--d'nent-tre--d'pose;-----sSend-slight-sin--
lto-----smy-sdoubt--feing-smind,-----tRe--tlieve-d'my-
r'fears,-----d'as--d'suage-tmy-d'woes;-----m'O-m'let-m'my-
f'soul-----m'on-r'Thee-d'be-lcast,-----lTill-lsin's-lfierce-
sty--sran--sny---sbe---spast.-----

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Key
Ab major
Doh
Ab
Time
3/2
Starts on
s (E♭)
Range
fe to f' (E𝄫 to D♭, a seventh)
Tune
SELENA
Words
Anonymous
Music
Isaac B. Woodbury

Tune SELENA by Isaac B. Woodbury (1819–1858); words by Anonymous. 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 Ab · 3/2

| s - s - s - O Thou, in| l - - - - - s - s - fe - whom the weary| s - - - - - t - t - d' - |find Alone their
| r' - - - - - d' - d' - t - permanent re-| d' - - - - - s - s - s - |pose; Send light in-
| l - - - - - s - s - fe - to my doubting| s - - - - - t - t - d' - |mind, Relieve my
| r' - - - - - d' - d' - t - fears, assuage my| d' - - - - - m' - m' - m' - |woes; O let my
| f' - - - - - m' - r' - d' - soul on Thee be| l - - - - - l - l - l - |cast, Till sin's fierce
| s - s - s - - - s - - - tyranny be| s - - - - - |past.

Staff notation

The melody on the treble staff in Ab major, with the first verse under the notes.

The words

O Thou, in whom the weary find
Alone their permanent repose;
Send light into my doubting mind,
Relieve my fears, assuage my woes;
O let my soul on Thee be cast,
Till sin's fierce tyranny be past.

Far, far from Thee, O God, removed,
Long have I wandered to and fro;
O'er earth in endless circles roved,
Nor found whereon to rest below;
Back unto Thee, at last, I fly:
Save! for the waters still are high.

Selfish pursuits and pleasure's maze,
The things of earth, for Thee I leave;
Pat forth Thy hand, Thy hand of grace,
Into the ark of love receive;
Take this poor fluttering soul to rest,
And still it, Father, on Thy breast.

Fill with inviolable peace;
'Stablish in faith my restless heart;
In Thee let all my wanderings cease,
From Thee may I no more depart;
Never again from Thee remove,
Loved with an everlasting love!

How to sing it from the solfa

  • Find doh first. Play or hum Ab 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 s (E♭), on the word “O”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
  • Count the time. 3/2 means three minim 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 and the chromatic fe. 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

These words were printed without an author's name in the supplement of the 1866 edition of A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1866), as hymn 513, “Seeking Rest”, where the book credits them to a Wesleyan source.

The book printed the words without tunes, marked Long Metre, six lines (8.8.8.8.8.8), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to SELENA; any other Long Metre, six lines tune fits them as well.

Tune SELENA by Isaac B. Woodbury (1819–1858); words by Anonymous.

Sung to the same tune: Above, Below, Where'er I Gaze, Afflicted by a Gracious God, All Things Are Possible to Him, Around Bethesda's Healing Wave, Behold the Servant of the Lord, Blest Who with Generous Pity Glows, Captain of Our Salvation, Take, Come, O Thou Universal Good, Creator Spirit, by Whose Light, Father of Everlasting, Grace, Father of Lights, from Whom Proceeds, God Sent Me to the Desert Wild, Hark! upon the Morning Breezes, I Brought My Darkest Sin to Mind, I Brought My Merits to the Throne, I Praised the Earth in Beauty Seen, I Sought the Lord at Early Morn, If Listening, as I Listen Still, Jesu, If Still the Same Thou Art, Jesus, Thou Source of Calm Repose, Join, All Ye Servants of the Lord, Lord of the Sea! — Thy Potent Sway, O 'Tis Enough, My God, My God, O Come, Thou Radiant Morning Star, O Let My Trembling Soul Be Still, O Lord of Bounty, Let This Bread, O Lord, Whose Bounteous Hand Again, O Love, I Languish at Thy Stay, O Thou Whom Fain My Soul Would Love, Our Earth We Now Lament to See, Peace, Troubled Soul, Whose Plaintive Moan, Strange and Mysterious Is My Life, The Heavens, O Lord! Thy Power Proclaim, The Promise Which the Saviour Made, Thou God Unsearchable, Unknown, Thou Hidden Source of Calm Repose, Thou, Lord, on Whom I Still Depend, To Thee, My God! to Thee I Bring, Unless the Lord Had Been My Stay, Watched by the World's Malignant Eye, Weary of Wandering from My God, What Must It Be to Dwell Above, What Shall I Do My God to Love, When Quiet in My House I Sit, When Streaming from the Eastern Skies, When Thou Wert Crucified by Men, Would Jesus Have the Sinner Die.

Questions about O Thou, in Whom the Weary Find

What is the doh of O Thou, in Whom the Weary Find?

In this version, in Ab major, doh is Ab. 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 O Thou, in Whom the Weary Find start on?

It starts on s (E♭ in Ab major), a pickup on the word “O” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.

Is O Thou, in Whom the Weary Find in the public domain?

Yes. Isaac B. Woodbury died in 1858; the words were in print by 1866 and the music in 1850. 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.

More by Isaac B. Woodbury

Everything by Isaac B. Woodbury (48 hymns and 3 hymn tunes)