Thou That Art Strong to Comfort, Look on Me in Tonic Solfa
Thou That Art Strong to Comfort, Look on Me in Tonic Solfa to PENITENTIA, doh is Eb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mThou---mthat-fart- | sstrong---dto--- |
| rcom---rfort,mlook-fon- | mme!------- |
| mI---rsit-din- | ldark----sness--- |
| sand--sbe-fhold-mno- | rlight;------- |
| mO----mver-fmy- | ssoul---dthe--- |
| lwaves--lofla--mgo-- | fny------- |
| fHave---mgone,-rand- | sleft-dme-din-fa- |
| mray----rless--- | dnight.------- |
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- Key
- Eb major
- Doh
- Eb
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (G)
- Range
- d to l (E♭ to C, a sixth)
- Tune
- PENITENTIA
- Words
- Mary Howitt
- Music
- Edward Dearle
Tune PENITENTIA by Edward Dearle (1806–1891); words by Mary Howitt (1799–1888). 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 Eb · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Eb major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Thou that art strong to comfort, look on me!
I sit in darkness and behold no light;
Over my soul the waves of agony
Have gone, and left me in a rayless night.
A bruised and broken reed sustain! sustain!
Divinest Comforter, to Thee I fly,
To whom no soul hath ever fled in vain;
Support me with thy love, or else I die.
Father, what'er I had, it all was thine;
A God of mercy Thou hast ever been;
O, help me what I most loved to resign,
And if I murmur, count it not for sin.
My soul is strengthened now, and it shall bear
All that remains, whatever it may be;
And from the very depths of my despair
I will look up, O God, and trust in Thee!
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Eb 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 m (G).
- 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. 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
Mary Howitt wrote these words. They were printed in A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1848), as hymn 330, “In Affliction”. The compilers changed some of the words, and this is their version.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Tens (10.10.10.10), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to PENITENTIA; any other Tens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Mary Howitt (1799–1888)
- Music (1880): Edward Dearle (1806–1891)
Tune PENITENTIA by Edward Dearle (1806–1891); words by Mary Howitt (1799–1888).
Sung to the same tune: Father! I Wait Thy Word. the Sun Doth Stand, Glory to God! the Christ Hath Left the Tomb, Hail, Full of Grace, Virgin Theotokos, Now with My Weeping Would I Cleanse My Soul, Rest in the Lord, O Servant by His Grace, Wake to the Songs That Lips Unsullied Sing.
Questions about Thou That Art Strong to Comfort, Look on Me
What is the doh of Thou That Art Strong to Comfort, Look on Me?
In this version, in Eb major, doh is Eb. 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 Thou That Art Strong to Comfort, Look on Me start on?
It starts on m (G in Eb major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is Thou That Art Strong to Comfort, Look on Me in the public domain?
Yes. Mary Howitt died in 1888, Edward Dearle died in 1891; the words were in print by 1848 and the music in 1880. 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.