The poem appeared in the 1851 collection Laudi Spirituali del Bianco da Siena of Telesforo Bini, and in 1861, the Anglo-Irish clergyman and writer Richard Frederick Littledale translated it into English.

[4] When Vaughan Williams died in 1958, "Come Down, O Love Divine" was sung at his funeral in Westminster Abbey as the composer's ashes were ceremonially interred in the Musicians' Corner.

[5] Come down, O Love divine, Seek Thou this soul of mine, And visit it with Thine own ardour glowing; O Comforter, draw near, Within my heart appear, and kindle it, Thy holy flame bestowing.

O let it freely burn Till earthly passions turn To dust and ashes in its heat consuming: And let Thy glorious light Shine ever on my sight, And clothe me round, the while my path illuming.

And so the yearning strong, With which the soul will long, Shall far outpass the power of human telling; For none can guess its grace, Till he become the place Wherein the Holy Spirit makes His dwelling.