Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour Lyrics Fanny J. Crosby, 1870
4 verses and a refrain, sung to Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior (8.5.8.5.9.8.5), public domain, free to print and project.
The words
Verse 1. Pass me not, O gentle Saviour,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.
Refrain Saviour, Saviour,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.
Verse 2. Let me at thy throne of mercy
Find a sweet relief;
Kneeling there in deep contrition,
Help my unbelief.
Verse 3. Trusting only in thy merit,
Would I seek thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit,
Save me by thy grace.
Verse 4. Thou the Spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside thee?
Whom in heav’n but thee?
Sing the refrain after every verse.
Words copied from New Baptist Hymnal (1926). They were published in 1870, so they are in the public domain in the United States, and your church may print them, show them and sing them without a license.
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The story behind Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour
Fanny Crosby wrote Pass Me Not in 1868 for the composer William H. Doane. Her 1906 autobiography, Memories of Eighty Years, says Doane visited New York in 1867 and gave her the subject on his second evening there. Her 1915 account dates the writing to 1868. The hymn did not appear in print at once. Its first printing was in Doane's Songs of Devotion in 1870, with four stanzas and a refrain. The book credited Crosby in its index and not on the page.
A popular story says Crosby wrote it after a spring 1868 visit to a Manhattan prison, where a man cried out for help. That account traces to a 1947 book, Stories of Wonderful Hymns. Crosby's own books, Ira Sankey's 1906 book and period newspapers do not mention it. The biographer Edith Blumhofer says the hymn grew from a visit to a New York rescue mission instead. The Hymnology Archive concludes the prison story may hold some truth but cannot be verified from early sources.
Doane wrote the tune, called PASS ME NOT. He and Crosby worked together on about 1,000 of her texts. Hymnary.org lists the tune most often in A flat major, with G and F also in use. One change from the first edition is the word smiling, which became calling in Doane's Chautauqua Carols in 1878.
Hymnary.org lists Luke 18:35 to 43 among the Scripture references for the text. That passage shows a blind man calling out to Jesus as he passes by.
Fanny J. Crosby
1820-03-24 to 1915
Fanny Crosby was born in Southeast, Putnam County, New York, on March 24, 1820. She lost her sight at about six weeks old after an illness and poor medical treatment. She began writing Sunday school hymns for William B. Bradbury in 1864, and her first hymn appeared that year in The Golden Censer. On March 5, 1858, she married Alexander Van Alstyne, a blind musician she had met at the New York Institution for the Blind. Hymnary counts about eight thousand poems, including more than four thousand hymns for Biglow and Main, and she used nearly two hundred pen names. Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology gives her birth year as 1823, which differs from the other sources.
William H. Doane
1832-02-03 to 1915
William Howard Doane was born in Preston, Connecticut. He ran a large woodworking machinery plant in Cincinnati and led civic work there. He supported the evangelistic work of Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey and helped endow Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He wrote more than 2,200 hymn and gospel song tunes and edited more than forty songbooks. His first Sunday school hymnbook, Sabbath Gems, appeared in 1861. He set many texts by Fanny J. Crosby, including To God Be the Glory.
- Hymnology Archive, Pass me not, O gentle Savior , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, Pass me not, O gentle Savior , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, PASS ME NOT (Doane) , read 2026-10-16
- UM Discipleship, History of Hymns: Rescue the Perishing (Doane and Crosby collaboration) , read 2026-10-16
Scripture in Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour
The Bible passages behind the words.
- Luke 18:35-43
- Mark 10:46-52
- Hebrews 4:12-16
- Psalm 34:17-18
Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour videos
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Pass Me Not O Gentle Saviour by 125 Voice Mass Choir for Classic Hymns Album Classic Hymns, Choir
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Pass Me Not - A Cappella Hymn A Cappella Hymns, A cappella
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Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior - piano instrumental hymn Kaleb Brasee, Piano
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Pass Me Not Fernando Ortega - Topic, Modern arrangement
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Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior (Live At The Barn at Sycamore Farms, Nashville, TN, 2024) Gaither Music TV, Modern arrangement
Videos play from YouTube, and nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. A video may sing different verses from the ones printed on this page.
Downloads, printing and slides
Sheet music files
- Sheet music PDF 109 KB. Words and all four parts, ready to print.
- Lead sheet PDF 90 KB. Melody, words and chord symbols for piano or guitar.
- MusicXML score XML 64 KB. Opens in MuseScore, Finale, Sibelius and Dorico to change the key or print parts.
- MIDI, all parts MIDI 2 KB. Plays the four-part harmony in any MIDI player or notation app.
- MIDI, melody only MIDI 1 KB. The tune alone, for learning it.
Practice tracks for each voice part, as MIDI: Alto , Tenor , Bass .
Chords and keys
Hymnals print it in A♭ or G.
Questions people ask
Who wrote Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour?
Fanny Crosby wrote the words in 1868 and William H. Doane wrote the tune. Doane first printed it in Songs of Devotion in 1870.
What is the story behind Pass Me Not?
Crosby's autobiographies say Doane gave her the subject in 1867 and she wrote the hymn in 1868. The popular prison story cannot be verified from early sources.
What Bible passage is behind Pass Me Not?
Hymnary.org lists Luke 18:35 to 43 and Mark 10:46 to 52, the account of a blind man who calls out to Jesus. It also lists Hebrews 4:12 to 16.
Is Pass Me Not in the public domain?
The words are public domain in the United States. Crosby wrote them in 1868 and Doane first printed them in 1870.
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