O Come Freedom

O Come Freedom is a free adaptation of three Shaker songs, all of which were transcribed from “A Record of Spiritual Songs,” a manuscript by Russel Haskell housed in the Music Division of the Library of Congress. The three songs adapted here are: “O come freedom,” an unattributed song (c. 1840); “I love freedom,” a song from Enfield, Connecticut (1840); and “Freedom, freedom, pretty pretty way,” a song from Sabbathday Lake, Maine (1846).

Adieu ye fading things of time,
Adieu all earthly pleasures,
I prize the gospel far above
The world elusive treasures.
O Lord thou art my only strength
in trial and temptation,
Thou hast redeemed my soul from death
and crowned me with salvation.