This lovely lute song is highly effective in its simplicity, combining the plaintiveness of the verse and the eagerness of the refrain into a cohesive whole that has become one of the best-known religious songs of the Renaissance period, given the directness of the text and the sweetness of the music.

"Never weather-beaten sail more willing bent to shore, never tired pilgrims' limbs affected [longed for] slumber more; than my wearied spright [spirit] now longs to fly out of my troubled breast: O come quickly, sweetest Lord, and take my soul to rest. Ever blooming are the joys of heaven's high paradise, cold age deafs not there our ears nor vapor dims our eyes; glory there the sun outshines, whose beams the blessed only see: O Come quickly, glorious Lord, and raise my spright to thee."

The rhythms of the song vary enough that it does not become overly repetitive, and the singer is given the challenge of interpreting the longing to be free of life's troubles in the first verse, and the longing for the joys of heaven in the second, using the same wistful music. The delicately accented refrain "O come quickly" with the slightly changed words from verse to verse provides yet another contrast, though one more clearly set out for singer and listener.

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