Scripture Verse

As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. Psalm 103:15–16

Introduction

portrait
Horatius Bonar (1808–1889)

Words: Ho­ra­ti­us Bo­nar, Hymns of Faith and Hope (Lon­don: James Nis­bet, 1857), pag­es 241–42.

Music: St. George (Gaunt­lett) Hen­ry J. Gaunt­lett, 1848 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Henry Gauntlett
(1805–1876)
National Portrait Gallery

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Lyrics

Make haste, O man, to live,
For thou so soon must die;
Time hur­ries past thee like the breeze;
How swift its mo­ments fly!

To breathe, and wake, and sleep,
To smile, to sigh, to grieve;
To move in idle­ness through earth,
This, this is not to live!

Make haste, O man, to do
Whatever must be done;
Thou hast no time to lose in sloth,
Thy day will soon be gone.

Up, then, with speed, and work;
Fling ease and self away;
This is no time for thee to sleep,
Up, watch, and work, and pray!

The useful, not the great,
The thing that ne­ver dies,
The si­lent toil that is not lost—
Set these before thine eyes.

The seed, whose leaf and flow­er,
Though poor in hu­man sight,
Bring forth at last th’eter­nal fruit,
Sow thou by day and night.

Make haste, O man, to live,
Thy time is al­most o’er;
O sleep not, dream not, but arise,
The Judge is at the door!