Gracious Spirit, Dove divine. J. Stocker. Whitsuntide.] This hymn first appeared in the Gospel Magazine, July 1777, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled, "To God the Holy Ghost," as follows:—
1. "Gracious Spirit, Dove divine,
Let Thy Light within me shine:
All my guilty fears remove;
Fill me full of Heav'n and Love.
2. "Speak Thy pard'ning Grace to me,
Set the burden'd Sinner free:
Lead me to the Lamb of God;
Wash me in his precious Blood.
3. "Life and Peace to me impart;
Seal Salvation on my Heart:
Breathe thyself into my Breast,
Earnest of immortal Rest.
4. "Let me never from thee stray;
Keep me in the narrow Way;
Fill my soul with Joy divine,
Keep me, Lord, for ever thine.
5. "Guard me round, on ev'ry Side;
Save me from self-righteous pride:
Me with Jesu's Mind inspire;
Melt me with celestial Fire.
6. "Thou my Dross and Tin consume;
Let thy inward Kingdom come:
All my Prayer and Praise suggest;
Dwell and reign within my breast."
This is also given in full in Sedgwick's reprint of Stacker's Hymns & Spiritual Poems, &c, 1801, p. 7. In Glazebrooke's Collection, stanzas 1-4 were given as "Gracious Spirit, love divine." This was repeated as from "Glazebrooke's C." in the Williams & Boden Collection, 1801, No. 143. This was again repeated in J. Dobell's New Selection, &c, 1806, and later collections, and has become the recognised form of the hymn, the only alteration of the original being that of "Dove" to “love divine," in the opening line. Various alterations of the text are also in common use, both in Great Britain and America, one, as "Gracious Spirit, power divine," being No. 1040 in Kennedy, 1863, and a second, "Holy Spirit, Love divine," in Powell's Hymns & Anthems, &c, 1881. These alterations may be ascertained by a collation with the original, as above. The hymn in its various forms is very popular, and is in extensive use in all English-speaking countries.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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