Sow in the Morn Thy Seed in Tonic Solfa
Sow in the Morn Thy Seed in Tonic Solfa to DIADEMATA, doh is D: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dSow-dindthemmorn-mthy- | lseed,-----lAt- |
| seve-dhold-fnot-mthy- | rhand;-----rTo- |
| mdoubt-sand-lfear-sgive- | fethou-mnor_sheed,-d'Broad-- |
| tcast-d'it-lo'er-lthe- | sland!-----sBe-- |
| sside-mall-rwa--dters- | lsow,-----lThe- |
| lhigh--feway-mfur--rrows- | tstock,-----tDrop- |
| d'it--twherelthorns-sand- | fthis--rtles-mgrow,-sDrop- |
| fit-mup--ron-rthe- | drock!------- |
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- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (D)
- Range
- d to d' (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- DIADEMATA
- Words
- James Montgomery
- Music
- George Job Elvey
Tune DIADEMATA by George Job Elvey (1816–1893); words by James Montgomery (1771–1854). 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 D · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Sow in the morn thy seed,
At eve hold not thy hand;
To doubt and fear give thou no heed,
Broadcast it o'er the land!
Beside all waters sow,
The highway furrows stock,
Drop it where thorns and thistles grow,
Drop it upon the rock!
The good, the fruitful ground
Expect not here nor there;
O'er hill and dale and plain 'tis found,
Go forth, then, everywhere!
And duly shall appear,
In verdure, beauty, strength,
The tender blade, the stalk, the ear,
And the full corn at length.
Thou canst not toil in vain;
Cold, heat, and moist and dry,
Shall foster and mature the grain
For garners in the sky;
Then when the glorious end,
The day of God, shall come,
The angel-reapers shall descend,
At heaven's great harvest-home.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum D 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 (D).
- 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 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
James Montgomery wrote these words. They were printed 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 540, “The Sower”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Short Metre Double (6.6.8.6.6.6.8.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to DIADEMATA; any other Short Metre Double tune fits them as well.
- Words: James Montgomery (1771–1854)
- Melody (1868): George Job Elvey (1816–1893)
Tune DIADEMATA by George Job Elvey (1816–1893); words by James Montgomery (1771–1854).
Sung to the same tune: Ah Whither Should I Go, Ah, When Shall I Awake, And Am I Born to Die, Crown Him with Many Crowns, Equip Me for the War, Father of Boundless Grace, Gracious Redeemer, Shake, Great Source of Life and Light, Hark! Hark! with Harps of Gold, I Want a Sober Mind, I Was a Wandering Sheep, I Will Not Yield My Sword, In Fellowship, Alone, It Is the Hour of Prayer, Jesu, We Look to Thee, Jesus, My Strength, My Hope, Lord, When at Thy Command, My God, My Strength, My Hope, My Sin Was Very Great, O God, in Mercy Hear, O That I Could Repent, O Thou Who Wouldst Not Have, O Unexhausted Grace, Soldiers of Christ, Arise, Sweet Is the Time of Spring, The Thing My God Doth Hate, We Mourn for Those Who Toil.
Questions about Sow in the Morn Thy Seed
What is the doh of Sow in the Morn Thy Seed?
In this version, in D major, doh is D. 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 Sow in the Morn Thy Seed start on?
It starts on d (D in D major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Sow in the Morn Thy Seed in the public domain?
Yes. James Montgomery died in 1854, George Job Elvey died in 1893; the words were in print by 1866 and the music in 1868. 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.