3 Holy Spirit, be thou nigh
When in mortal pains we lie;
Grant us, as we come to die,
Light at evening time.

4 Holy, blessed Trinity,
Darkness is not dark with thee;
Those thou keepest always see
Light at evening time. Amen.

Richard H. Robinson, 1869

17

HE sun is sinking fast,
The daylight dies;

Let love awake, and pay
Her evening sacrifice.

2 As Christ upon the cross
His head inclined,

And to his Father's hands
His parting soul resigned;

3 So now herself my soul
Would wholly give

Into his sacred charge,

In whom all spirits live;

4 So now beneath his eye
Would calmly rest,
Without a wish or thought
Abiding in the breast;

5 Save that his will be done,
Whate'er betide;

Dead to herself, and dead
In him to all beside.

6.4.6.6

6 Thus would I live; yet now
Not I, but he,

In all his power and love,
Henceforth alive in me.

7 One sacred Trinity,
One Lord divine,
May I be ever his,

And he for ever mine.

Amen.

Latin; Tr. Edward Caswall, 1858

18

A

BIDE with me: fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide:

When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

2 Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass

away,

Change and decay in all around I see;
O thou who changest not, abide with me.

3 I need thy presence every passing hour; What but thy grace can foil the tempter's power?

Who, like thyself, my guide and stay can be?

Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

4 I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless: Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness. Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory?

I triumph still, if thou abide with me.

5 Hold thou thy cross before my closing

eyes:

Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies:

Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee:

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Amen.

Henry F. Lyte, 1847

19

SOF

OFTLY now the light of day
Fades upon my sight away;

Four 7's

Free from care, from labour free,
Lord, I would commune with thee.

2 Thou, whose all-pervading eye Naught escapes, without, within, Pardon each infirmity,

Open fault, and secret sin.

3 Soon, for me, the light of day
Shall for ever pass away;
Then, from sin and sorrow free,
Take me, Lord, to dwell with thee.

4 Thou who, sinless, yet hast known All of man's infirmity;

Then, from thine eternal throne,

Jesus, look with pitying eye. Amen.

George W. Doane, 1824

20

S

L.M.

UN of my soul, thou Saviour dear,
It is not night if thou be near;
O may no earth-born cloud arise
To hide thee from thy servant's eyes.

2 When the soft dews of kindly sleep
My weary eyelids gently steep,
Be my last thought, how sweet to rest
For ever on my Saviour's breast.

3 Abide with me from morn till eve,
For without thee I cannot live;
Abide with me when night is nigh,
For without thee I dare not die.

4 If some poor wandering child of thine
Have spurned to-day the voice divine,
Now, Lord, the gracious work begin;
Let him no more lie down in sin.

5 Watch by the sick; enrich the poor With blessings from thy boundless store; Be every mourner's sleep to-night,

Like infant's slumbers, pure and light.

6 Come near and bless us when we wake, Ere through the world our way we take, Till in the ocean of thy love

We lose ourselves in heaven above. Amen. John Keble, 1820

21

TE

HE day is past and gone;
The evening shades appear:
O may we all remember well
The night of death draws near.

2 We lay our garments by,
Upon our beds to rest;

So death shall soon disrobe us all
Of what is here possest.

3 Lord, keep us safe this night, Secure from all our fears;

S.M.

May angels guard us while we sleep,
Till morning light appears. Amen.

John Leland, 1792

22

C.M.D.

HE shadows of the evening hours
Fall from the darkening sky;

THE

Upon the fragrance of the flowers
The dews of evening lie.

Before thy throne, O Lord of heaven,
We kneel at close of day;

Look on thy children from on high,
And hear us while we pray.

2 The sorrows of thy servants, Lord,
O do not thou despise,

But let the incense of our prayers
Before thy mercy rise.

The brightness of the coming night
Upon the darkness rolls;

With hopes of future glory chase
The shadows on our souls.