Nay, Speak No Ill

Original title: 'Speak No Ill'

Sheet Music

Using the tune 'Kindly Word' as seen in Relief Society Song Book, 1919, no. 75

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• LilyPond
• Copyright: public domain
• Source: Relief Society Song Book, 1919, no. 75
• Contributor: Veramet 01:13, 5 October 2010 (MDT)

Tunes

• Kindly Word, by Unknown Composer, ca. 1891
  • Copyright: public domain
  • Information about how the tune came to be used among Latter-day Saints (needs a source for verification).
• Richard Hoffman Andrews (who probably lived from 1831 to 1909) arranged a German tune to be paired with this hymn.
• Tune found in The Musical Fountain, Enlarged, 1867, p. 60–61 (the hymn is titled 'Speak Evil of No One' here)
• Tune by W. B. Bradbury as seen in New York weekly review, Volume 6, 1855
• Prophet, by Unknown Composer

Lyrics

• Poet: Charles Swain (1801–1874), ca. 1845
• Copyright: public domain

Lyrics from Relief Society Song Book, 1919, no. 75

1. Nay, speak no ill, a kindly word
Can never leave a sting behind;
And oh, to breathe each tale we’ve heard,
Is far beneath a noble mind.
Full oft a better seed is sown
By choosing thus the kinder plan,
For, if but little good is known,
Still let us speak the best we can.

2. Give me the heart that fain would hide—
Would fain another’s faults efface:
How can it please the human pride
To prove humanity but base?
No, let us reach a higher mood—
A nobler estimate of man,
Be earnest in the search for good,
And speak of all the best we can.

3. Then speak no ill, but lenient be
To other’s failings as your own;
If you’re the first a fault to see,
Be not the first to make it known.
For life is but a passing day,
No lip may tell how brief its span;
Then, O the little time we stay,
Let’s speak of all the best we can.