Scripture Verse

The earth shall cast out the dead. Isaiah 26:19

Introduction

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John Bowring (1792–1872)
National Portrait Gallery

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Words: John Bow­ring, in A Col­lect­ion of Hymns for Pub­lic and Pri­vate Wor­ship, by John Rel­ly Beard (Lon­don: John Green, 1837), num­ber 531.

Music: Guide Mar­cus M. Wells, 1858 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Wells (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Gather up, O earth, thy dead,
Grass! thy peace­ful pil­low spread;
Add an­oth­er mor­tal’s bed
To the bed where mor­tals sleep;
Where they sleep—but not to rise,
When morn’s sun­light clears the skies,
But to rest—while cen­tu­ries
Their long-dur­ing watch­es keep.

Centuries shall pass away,
Earth shall hast­en to de­cay;
Days will bring of days the Day
When the ex­haust­ed cycles end;
Then earth’s ev­ery fu­gi­tive
Shall ap­pear—the grave shall give
Up its dead—the dead shall live,
And the eter­nal Judge des­cend.

Day of won­ders! Day of woe!
Day of ev­il’s ov­er­throw!
Day of joy! when all shall know—
Know, and see the Lord of Hea­ven—
Then, Oh, then, may hope ap­pear,
Faith our faint­ing spir­its cheer,
Love dry up the trem­bling tear,
Whispering sweet­ly, Sins for­giv­en.