408

FA

AR from my heavenly home,
Far from my Father's breast,
Fainting I cry, blest Spirit, come,
And speed me to my rest.

2 My spirit homeward turns,
And fain would thither flee;
My heart, O Sion, droops and yearns,
When I remember thee.

3 To thee, to thee I press,
A dark and toilsome road;
When shall I pass the wilderness,
And reach the saints' abode?

4 God of my life, be near:

On thee my hopes I cast:

S.M.

O guide me through the desert here,
And bring me home at last! Amen.

Henry F. Lyte, 1834

Also the following

16 Holy Father, cheer our way
36 Lord, for to-morrow and its needs
42 Guide me, O thou great Jehovah
52 O Jesus, crucified for man
69 Brief life is here our portion
122 Lord, in this thy mercy's day
149 O Lamb of God, still keep me
150 Beneath the cross of Jesus

157 Sweet the moments, rich in blessing
176 Jesus lives! thy terrors now
211 My faith looks up to thee
215 Jesus, my strength, my hope
217 Rock of ages

222 Nearer, my God, to thee

223 Jesus, lover of my soul

224 In heavenly love abiding 225 My spirit on thy care

232 How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds

235 O Love that casts out fear

244 Lead, kindly Light

See also The Church Triumphant

409

W

Burial of the Dead

Four 7's

THEN our heads are bowed with woe, When our bitter tears o'erflow, When we mourn the lost, the dear, Jesus, Son of Mary, hear!

2 Thou our throbbing flesh hast worn,
Thou our mortal griefs hast borne,
Thou hast shed the human tear;
Jesus, Son of Mary, hear!

3 When the solemn death-bell tolls
For our own departing souls,
When our final doom is near,
Jesus, Son of Mary, hear!

4 Thou hast bowed the dying head,
Thou the blood of life hast shed,
Thou hast filled a mortal bier;
Jesus, Son of Mary, hear!

5 When the heart is sad within
With the thought of all its sin,
When the spirit shrinks with fear,
Jesus, Son of Mary, hear!

6 Thou the shame, the grief, hast known,
Though the sins were not thine own;
Thou hast deigned their load to bear;
Jesus, Son of Mary, hear! Amen.

Henry H. Milman, 1827

410

G

Six 8'8

NOD of the living, in whose eyes Unveiled thy whole creation lies, All souls are thine; we must not say That those are dead who pass away, From this our world of flesh set free; We know them living unto thee.

2 Released from earthly toil and strife, With thee is hidden still their life; Thine are their thoughts, their works, their

powers,

All thine, and yet most truly ours;
For well we know, where'er they be,
Our dead are living unto thee.

3 Not spilt like water on the ground,

Not wrapped in dreamless sleep profound,
Not wandering in unknown despair
Beyond thy voice, thine arm, thy care;
Not left to lie like fallen tree;
Not dead, but living unto thee.

4 Thy word is true, thy will is just;
To thee we leave them, Lord, in trust;
And bless thee for the love which gave
Thy Son to fill a human grave,

That none might fear that world to see
Where all are living unto thee.

5 O Breather into man of breath,
O Holder of the keys of death,
O Giver of the life within,

Save us from death, the death of sin;
That body, soul, and spirit be

For ever living unto thee! Amen.

John Ellerton, 1858; alt. 1867

411

Now

7.7.7.7.8.8

[OW the labourer's task is o'er;
Now the battle day is past;

Now upon the farther shore

Lands the voyager at last.
Father, in thy gracious keeping
Leave we now thy servant sleeping.

2 There the tears of earth are dried;
There its hidden things are clear;
There the work of life is tried
By a juster Judge than here.
Father, in thy gracious keeping
Leave we now thy servant sleeping.

3 There the penitents, that turn
To the cross their dying eyes,
All the love of Jesus learn
At his feet in Paradise.
Father, in thy gracious keeping
Leave we now thy servant sleeping.

4 There no more the powers of hell
Can prevail to mar their peace;
Christ the Lord shall guard them well,
He who died for their release.

Father, in thy gracious keeping
Leave we now thy servant sleeping.

5 "Earth to earth, and dust to dust,"
Calmly now the words we say,
Left behind, we wait in trust
For the resurrection day.
Father, in thy gracious keeping
Leave we now thy servant sleeping.

412

Amen.

John Ellerton, 1870

P.M.

S

UNSET and evening star,

And one clear call for me!

And may there be no moaning of the bar When I put out to sea,

2 But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam,

When that which drew from out the boundless deep

Turns again home.

3 Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark!

And may there be no sadness of farewell When I embark;

4 For, though from out our bourne of time and place

The flood may bear me far,

I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

413

A

Alfred Tennyson, 1889

L.M.

SLEEP in Jesus! blessèd sleep!

From which none ever wakes to weep;

A calm and undisturbed repose,

Unbroken by the last of foes.