Scripture Verse

He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12

Introduction

portrait
Philip S. Worsley (1831–1866)

Words: Phi­lip S. Wors­ley (1831–1866).

Music: Di­es Ir­ae (Mont­real), ano­ny­mous, in the Church Hym­nal (Rous­es Point, New York: John W. Lov­ell, 1877), num­ber 535 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Lyrics

Day of an­ger, day of won­der,
When the world shall roll asun­der
Quenched in fire and smoke and thun­der.

O vast ter­ror; wild heart-rend­ing,
Of that hour when earth is end­ing,
And her jea­lous judge des­cend­ing.

When the trum­pet’s voice as­tound­eth,
Through earth’s se­pul­chers re­bound­eth,
Summons uni­ver­sal sound­eth.

Death as­ton­ished, na­ture shak­en,
Sees all crea­tures, as they wak­en,
To that dire tri­bun­al tak­en.

Lo! the book, where all is hoard­ed,
Not a sec­ret un­re­cord­ed;
Every doom is thence award­ed.

So the Judge when He ar­raign­eth,
Every hid­den thing ex­plain­eth:
Nothing un­avenged re­main­eth.

In that fie­ry re­ve­la­tion,
Where shall I make sup­pli­ca­tion,
When the just hath scarce sal­va­tion?

Fount of love, dread King su­per­nal,
Freely giv­en life eter­nal,
Save me from the pains in­fer­nal.

This for­get not, sweet Life-giver,
Me Thou cam­est to de­liv­er;
Cast me not away for­ev­er.