English poem
_The Tune._
by Hezekiah Butterworth (1839–1905)
The word "Rhine" (in some collections--in others "Emmons") names a revival tune once so linked with this hymn and so well known that few religious people now past middle life could enjoy singing it to any other. With a compass one note beyond an octave and a third, it utters every line with a clear, bold gladness sure to infect a meeting with its own spiritual fervor.
Thou dear Redeemer, dying Lamb, I love to hear of Thee; No music like Thy charming name, Nor half so sweet can be.
The composer of the bright legato melody just described was Frederick Burgmueller, a young German musician, born in 1804. He was a remarkable genius, both in composition and execution, but his health was frail, and he did not live to fulfil the rich possibilities that lay within him. He died in 1824--only twenty years old. The tune "Rhine" ("Emmons") is from one of his marches.