WA SODO JESU

Words: George F. Root, 1870
Wa sodo Jesu, ma se duro
N'nu oro Re lo ti fona han wa
O duro ni arin wa loni
O n wi jeje pe, "Wa"

Egbe

Ipade wa yio je ayo
Gb'okan wa ba bo lowo ese
A o si wa pelu Re Jesu
Ni ile wa lailai

Je k'omode wa
A! Gb'ohun Re
Je kokan gbogbo fo fun ayo
Ki a si yan A layanfe wa
Ma duro, sugbon wa

Tun ro, O wa pelu wa loni
F'eti s'ofin Re ko si gboran
Gbo b'ohun Re ti n wi pele pe,
"Wa, omo mi, e wa!"


Come to the Savior, make no delay;
Here in His Word He has shown us the way;
Here in our midst He’s standing today,
Tenderly saying, “Come!”

Refrain

Joyful, joyful will the meeting be,
When from sin our hearts are pure and free;
And we shall gather, Savior, with Thee,
In our eternal home.

“Suffer the children!” oh, hear His voice!
Let ev’ry heart leap forth and rejoice;
And let us freely make Him our choice;
Do not delay, but come.

Think once again, He’s with us today;
Heed now His blest command, and obey;
Hear now His accents tenderly say,
“Will you, My children, come?”


George Frederick Root was born with a talent for making music. At the age of 13 he was able to play 13 different instruments. In adult life, he played the organ in a church in New York City, and taught music at a women’s institute. He also taught at the New York Institute for the Blind, where Fanny Crosby was one of his students.

Root worked with hymn writer Lowell Mason at the Academy of Music in Boston. He wrote some popular songs for the secular market (such as Rosalie, the Prairie Flower), and patriotic songs around the time of the Civil War (such as Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys Are Marching). But he is best known for his many hymns, sometimes providing words and music, other times composing tunes for the words of others.

As examples of his work, he wrote the tunes for Ring the Bells of Heaven and When He Cometh. And Root wrote words and music for Why Not Now? and Come to the Saviour. The latter is a simple invitation hymn, with a pretty tune.

(Read more here and get a story about the hymn here.)

Comments

  1. Ore ofe ohun

    1. Ore ofe ohun
    Adun ni l’eti wa
    Gbohun gbohun re y’o gba orun kan
    Aye y’o gbo pelu

    Ore ofe sa
    N’igbekele mi
    Jesu ku fun araye
    O ku fun mi pelu

    2. Ore ofe l’o ko
    Oruko mi l’orun
    L’o fi mi fun Od’agutan
    T’O gba iya mi je.

    3. Ore ofe to mi
    S’ona alafia
    O ntoju mi l’ojojumo
    Ni irin ajo mi

    4. Ore ofe ko mi
    Bi a ti ‘gbadura
    O pa mi mo titi d’oni
    Ko si je ki nsako

    5. Je k’ore ofe yi
    F’agbara f’okan mi
    Ki nle fi gbogbo ipa mi
    At’ojo mi fun O. Amin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for this hymn sir. I will add it to my collection.

      Delete
    2. I love this song. This song was adopted by my grandmother's group in church ( Egbe oreofe). Thank you for this song.

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  2. HI, I think the last line of the refrain is "Ni ile ayeraye". But thanks anyways

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are both correct but I sang it as "Ni ile wa lailai" for several years before an updated version of my church's Yoruba hymnal changes it to "Ni ile ayeraye" and so prefer it. But whichever you choose to use, they both mean the same thing.

      Delete
  3. Thanks for this motivational hymn sir.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You're welcome. I'm a ma'am though not a sir.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks! Grace alone, always.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks so much, could remember in parts my grandma's favourite hymn; the refrain stuck with me all of these years, thanks again!

    ReplyDelete

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