by Horatius Bonar (1808 - 1889)
Be true
Language: English
Thou must be true thyself, If thou the truth wouldst teach; Thy soul must overflow, if thou Another's soul would'st reach! It needs the overflow of heart To five the lips full speech. Think truly, and thy thoughts Shall the world's famine feed; Speak truly, and each word of thine Shall be a fruitful seed; Live truly, and thy life shall be A great and noble creed.
Authorship:
- by Horatius Bonar (1808 - 1889), "Be true" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Eleanor Everest Freer (1864 - 1942), "Be true", op. 4 no. 5, published 1905 [voice and piano], from A Book of Songs, no. 5, note: this may be the wrong text for this title and first line - no poet given in catalog [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-09-15
Line count: 12
Word count: 67