4 O, let the soul its slumbers break, Arouse its senses, and awake To see how soon Life, like its glories, glides away, And the stern footsteps of decay Come stealing on.
1090 S. H. M. Friend after friend departs.
Friend after friend departs; Who hath not lost a friend? There is no union here of hearts, That finds not here an end? Were this frail world our only rest, Living or dying, none were blest.
2 Beyond the flight of time, Beyond this vale of death, There surely is some blesséd clime, Where life is not a breath, Nor life’s affections transient fire, Whose sparks fly upward to expire,
3 There is a world above, Where parting is unknown; A whole eternity of love, Formed for the good alone; And faith beholds the dying here Translated to that happier sphere.
4 Thus star by star declines, Till all are passed away, As morning high and higher shines To pure and perfect day; Nor sink those stars in empty night; They hide themselves in heaven’s own light.
1091 8s & 4s. Weep not for me.
When the spark of life is waning, Weep not for me; When the languid eye is streaming, Weep not for me; When the feeble pulse is ceasing, Start not at its swift decreasing, ’Tis the fettered soul’s releasing, Weep not for me.
2 When the pangs of death assail me, Weep not for me; Christ is mine, he can not fail me, Weep not for me; Yes, though sin and doubt endeavor, From his love my soul to sever, Jesus is my strength for ever; Weep not for me.
1092 7s & 6s. Mortality swallowed up of life. 2 Cor. 5:4.
No, no, it is not dying To go unto our God, This gloomy earth forsaking, Our journey homeward taking Along the starry road.
2 No, no, it is not dying Heaven’s citizen to be, A crown immortal wearing, And rest unbroken sharing, From care and conflict free.
3 No, no, it is not dying The Shepherd’s voice to know; His sheep he ever leadeth, His peaceful flock he feedeth, Where living pastures grow.
4 No, no, it is not dying To wear a heavenly crown, Among God’s people dwelling, The glorious triumph swelling, Of him whose sway we own.
5 O no, this is not dying, Thou Saviour of mankind; There, streams of love are flowing, No hindrance ever knowing; Here, only drops we find.
1093 10s, 6s, & 4s. The burial of the dead.
Thou God of love! beneath thy sheltering wings We leave our holy dead, To rest in hope! From this world’s sufferings Their souls have fled!
2 O! when our souls are burdened with the weight Of life, and all its woes, Let us remember them, and calmly wait For our life’s close!
1094 6s & 8s. Go to thy rest in peace.
Go to thy rest in peace, And soft be thy repose; Thy toils are o’er, thy troubles cease; From earthly cares, in sweet release, Thine eyelids gently close.
2 Go to thy peaceful rest; For thee we need not weep, Since thou art now among the blest— No more by sin and sorrow pressed, But hushed in quiet sleep.
3 Go to thy rest; and while Thy absence we deplore, One thought our sorrow shall beguile; For soon, with a celestial smile, We meet to part no more.
1095 11s. He died at his post.
Away from his home and the friends of his youth, He hasted, the herald of mercy and truth, For the love of his Lord, and to seek for the lost: Soon, alas! was his fall—but he died at his post.
2 The stranger’s eye wept, that, in life’s brightest bloom, One gifted so highly should sink to the tomb; For in ardor he led in the van of the host, And he fell like a soldier—he died at his post.
3 He wept not himself that his warfare was done— The battle was fought, and the victory won; But he whispered of those whom his heart clung to most, “Tell my brethren, for me, that I died at my post.”
4 He asked not a stone to be sculptured with verse; He asked not that fame should his merits rehearse; But he asked as a boon, when he gave up the ghost, That his brethren might know that he died at his post.
5 Victorious his fall—for he rose as he fell, With Jesus, his Master, in glory to dwell: He has passed o’er the stream, and has reached the bright coast, For he fell like a martyr—he died at his post.
6 And can we the words of his exit forget? O! no; they are fresh in our memory yet: An example so worthy shall never be lost, We will fall in the work—we will die at our post.
1096 12s & 11s. Farewell to a friend departed.
Thou art gone to the grave; but we will not deplore thee, Though sorrows and darkness encompass the tomb: The Saviour has passed through its portals before thee, And the lamp of his love is thy guide thro’ the gloom.