i believe WORSHIP has this

You may find this hymn beautifully translated into English as 'Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee' at no. 462 in The Hymnal 1940 or no. 642 in The Hymnal 1982. Both are, however, set to metrical tunes, so you could copy them out yourself to the plainchant tune. There is another setting to a lovely chant tune (though not, I think, the one you have in mind) which may be found at no. 188 in Hymns Ancient and Modern, revised. If A&M is unavailable to you and you wish to have this setting I could mail you a copy. You may also find the hymn at no. 238 in The English Hymnal, set to a mode I melody in 'square notes'. This, also, I could mail you if you shouldn't have this book available.

incantu:

I don't see the link (or the file, if you attached something).

Perfect!!! God bless you!

Incantu - I was not aware of this translation by Hopkins. It is, of course, wonderful. What is your source for it? You are right about the metre. I realised this after trying it to the 'right tune'. Do you know 'Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts' at no. 485 in The Hymnal 1940? It is really pleasurable to sing to the Sarum mode I melody and is, though more sacramentally oriented, similar in sentiment to 'Jesu dulcis'. Is there, perhaps, a Hopkins version of this as well?

Aren't both of these centos (centi?) from the same longer work by (or attr.) Bernard of Clairvaux?

Leland

Here is a translation that a friend and I made when we were twenty-four-year-old seminarians:

1. My Jesus, as I think of you,
How truly you delight my heart;
And yet far greater than the goods of earth,
What joy your presence does impart!

2. No voice can chant more glad a song,
No ear can hear more deep a sigh,
No mind conceive a thought more delicate
Than Jesus, Son of God Most High.

3. How hopeful, Lord, to those who sin,
To those who seek, how true and kind,
How good you are to those who search for you,
But how much more to those who find!

4. No tongue could ever hope to tell,
No learning ever comprehend;
To know what loving Jesus truly means
Belongs to him He claims as friend.

5. O Jesus, be our present joy,
For ever be our sure reward.
O let our glory be eternally
In Jesus’ name, our saving Lord. Amen.

translated by Paul F. Ford and Robert C. Trupia, 1971.
© Paul F. Ford, 1971. All rights reserved.

Perhaps, Incantu, OCCCP (sorry, sticky key) will soon call upon YOU to employ your profound gift for dynamic equivalence. Hey, would you please post your famous "God is our God" on this forum some time?

(Incidentally, anytime someone brings up Jesu Dulcis, I always put it a plug for Alfred Fedak's anthem "In Thee Be All Our Glory," which paints the "Jesus, the very thought of Thee" so eloquently and employs the chant melody with astounding grace. One of my choir's favorites!)

Deleted.

I noticed the telltale 'alt.' designation on the pdf version posted above.
Here's what I *think* is the unaltered Hopkins text.

Jesu, Dulcis Memoria

Jesus to cast one thought upon
Makes gladness after He is gone,
But more than honey and honeycomb
Is to come near and take Him home.

No music so can touch the ear,
No news is heard of such sweet cheer,
Thought half so dear there is not one
As Jesus God the Father's Son.

Jesu, their hope who go astray,
So kind to those who ask the way,
So good to those who look for Thee,
To those who find what must Thou be?

To speak of that no tongue will do
Nor letters suit to spell it true:
But they can guess who have tasted of
What Jesus is and what is love.

Jesu, a springing well Thou art,
Daylight to head and treat to heart,
And matched with Thee there' nothing glad
That men have wished for or have had.

Wish us Good Morning when we wake
And light us, Lord, with Thy day-break.
Beat from our brains the thicky night
And fill the world up with delight.

Who taste of Thee will hunger more,
Who drink be thirsty as before:
Wat else to ask they never know
But Jesus' self they love Him so.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
And a sweet singing in the ear
And in the mouth a honey zest
And drinks of heaven in the breast.

Thou art the hope, Jesu, my sweet,
The soul has in its sighing-fit;
The loving tears on Thee are spent,
The inner cry for Thee is meant.

Be our delight, O Jesu, now
As by and by our prize art Thou,
And grant our glorying may be
World without end alone in Thee.

Daniel Pinkham set the Hopkins text: Eight Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins ("Jesus to Cast One Thought upon," "Spring, Heaven-Haven," "Pied Beauty," "Strike, churl," "Spring and Fall," "Christmas Day," "Jesu That Dost in Mary Dwell"), for Baritone or Tenor-Baritone and Viola.