1761–1796

Introduction

Born: 1761, Birm­ing­ham, War­wick­shire, Eng­land.

Christened: May 22, 1761, St. John’s Church, Der­it­end and Bor­des­ley (a su­burb of Birm­ing­ham).

Died: Ap­ril 14 [Mc­Cutch­an, Rey­nolds] or Ap­ril 16 [Brown], 1796, Wal­worth, Lon­don, Eng­land.

Buried: Bun­hill Fields, Lon­don, Eng­land.

portrait

Biography

Upon be­ing ap­pren­ticed to an en­grav­er, Swain moved to Lon­don.

After com­ing to Christ, he be­gan ex­press­ing his po­et­ic tem­per­ament by writ­ing hymns. In 1783, he was bap­tized by John Rip­pon, and in 1791 be­came min­is­ter of a Bap­tist con­gre­ga­tion in East Street, Wal­worth.

Works

Sources

Lyrics

  1. Brethren, While We So­journ Here
  2. Can We For­bear to Sing?
  3. Children of the King of Grace
  4. Christ the Lord Will Come Again
  5. Come, Lift Your Joy­ous Eyes
  6. Come, Ye Souls by Sin Af­flict­ed
  7. How Sweet, How Hea­ven­ly Is the Sight
  8. In Ex­pec­ta­tion Sweet
  9. Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Gates
  10. Lo, He Comes, Ar­rayed in Ven­geance
  11. Love Is the Sweet­est Bud That Blows
  12. O How the Thought That I Shall Know
  13. O Thou in Whose Pre­sence
  14. On Earth the Song Be­gins
  15. On the Wings of Faith Up­spring­ing
  16. Pilgrims We Are to Ca­naan Bound
  17. Praise Ye the Lord, the Eter­nal King
  18. Praise Your Re­deem­er, Praise His Name
  19. Redeemer of Is­ra­el
  20. ’Tis Hea­ven Be­gun Below
  21. What Is It for a Saint to Die?
  22. What Must It Be to Dwell Above?
  23. When Firm I Stand on Zi­on’s Hill
  24. Who Can For­bear to Sing?
  25. Ye Daugh­ters of Zi­on, Dec­lare, Have You Seen?