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If I spoke in tongues of men or angels,
And if I spoke them well,
But had no love I'd be
        but sounding cymbals,
A weathered, clanging bell.

And if I had prophetic powers,
Understood all mystery,
The knowledge of why blooming flow'rs
Open at the dawn's decree.
And if I had faith could shake
        the mountains, could calm the raging sea,
But had not love, I am nothing more
        than a man surrendered upon his knee.

And if I were to give away all I've earned,
All that I have held dear,
And sacrificed what's mortal to be burned
And not once bowed down to fear,
But had I no Love to give
There would be none to gain,
And in the wake of a life ill-liv'd
May my death be all in vain.

For I have heard
        Love is patient, Love is kind,
Shows neither conceit nor jealousy.
She shows neither arrogance nor is She blind
To the rules of humility.
And in no way you will find
A Love most sweet
        insist on its own way,
Nor shall you see dear Love inclined
To resent, or to hold harsh expectancy.

O, I have heard Love
        does not rejoice in wrong,
But rejoices in the right.
She bears all things,
        believes all things, sings Hope's song,
And endures all trial and blight.

And I have heard Love never ends,
Never passes away as do prophecies,
Nor like knowledge does
        it pass away, but transcends
The day on which tongues
        of men and even angels cease.
For our knowledge is imperfect and expends,
As well, our prophecies.
But on that day the perfect
        will be all that's left, sends
Away all that's imperfect
        away with the calming breeze.

And now I recall the days when I was but a child,
The days when like a child I thought and spoke,
The days when I reasoned like a child
But when I became a man
        and gave up childish ways I broke.

For as in a mirror we see life before our eyes,
And it seems to reflect itself
        so dimly, an emptiness of grace.
But one day we will see what
        all mortal sight to us denies,
And see Love face to face.
Now I know, I see, in part;
Then fully I know I shall understand.
Even as I have been fully
        understood by another's heart
All that Love can and will withstand.

So, in the end, faith, hope, and love abide,
These three shall rise above;
But among them all if they
        one day should divide,
Know the greatest of these is love.

(And I know now that although
        through that darkened mirror we see,
That if I had not love, I am nothing more
        than a man surrendered upon his knee.
And although now I know all knowledge,
All things mortal shall pass away,
Even though time shall be a sacrilege,
To all the things I will ever do or say,
I know there is but one thing that will last,
That shall forever rise above,
When my imperfections are away all cast,
Remember my undying love.)