47 SUN L. M. of my soul, thou Saviour dear, It is not night if thou be near: O may no earthborn cloud arise To hide thee from thy servant's eyes. 2 When the soft dews of kindly sleep My wearied eyelids gently steep, Be my last thought, how sweet to rest 3 Abide with me from morn till eve, 4 If some poor wandering child of thine 5 Watch by the sick; enrich the poor 6 Come near and bless us when we wake, John Keble. From The Christian Year, 1827. Part of a poem of fourteen stanzas, entitled "Evening." This hymn is made up of the third, seventh, eighth, and last three verses, unaltered. Text: "Abide with us; for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." (Luke xxiv. 29.). This widely used and vastly useful lyric stands near the head of the list of the best English hymns. It is number nine in the list of hymns of "first rank" in Anglican Hymnology, and number eight in the list of Stead's Hymns That Have Helped. One of the highest privileges known to man is that of voicing the desires of Christian people in holy song as the author has here. The hymn is full of the spirit of Christ, and could only have been written by a devout soul. Allan Sutherland, in his Famous Hymns of the World, writes of this hymn as follows: "Sun of My Soul" is one of the finest examples in our language of what a true prayer hymn should be. Beginning with a beautiful acknowledgment of what God is to us, there follows an earnest supplication that debasing thoughts may be driven away, that "no earthborn cloud" may arise to hide us from our Saviour. The first three stanzas are devoted to an earnest plea for the right relation of our own hearts to God. From that point it is easy and natural to think of and pray for others. How inclusive are the next two stanzas! The wanderer, the sick, the poor, the mourner are all sympathetically remembered; and then follow the tender and comforting appeal for divine guidance throughout our earthly life and the exquisitely expressed belief in an eternity of joy with which the hymn ends. A visitor once asked Alfred Tennyson what his thoughts were of Christ. They were walking in a garden, and for a moment the great poet was silent; then, bending over some beautiful flowers, he said: "What the sun is to these flowers, Jesus Christ is to my soul. He is the sun of my soul." Consciously or unconsciously he was expressing the same thought in the same language used by John Keble years before when he gave to the world his great heart hymn, "Sun of My Soul." It has a large place in Christian biography. The following incident is taken from Our Hymns and Their Authors: A young lady of lovely Christian character lay seriously ill in her chamber. Her mother and loved ones were about her. The room She asked seemed to her to be growing dark. them to raise the curtains and let in the light. But, alas! the curtains were already raised, and it was broad-open daylight. It was the night of death that had come, and she knew it not. As she kept asking them to let in the light, they had to tell her the nature of the But darkness that was gathering about her. "Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear, To hide thee from thy servant's eyes." The eyes of all in the room suffused with tears as the sweet singer's tremulous voice continued: "When the soft dews of kindly sleep She had often sung this song to the delight of the home circle, but now it seemed, like the song of the dying swan, the sweetest she had ever sung. Her countenance lighted up with a beauty and radiance that came not from earth as she sang once more in feebler but more heavenly strains: "Abide with me from morn till eve, For without thee I cannot live: And with these fitting words the sweet voice was hushed in death, ceasing not to sing "Till, in the ocean of God's love, Lay down the burden and the care. 3 O God, our Light, to thee we bow; Within all shadows standest thou; Give deeper calm than night can bring; Give sweeter songs than lips can sing. 4 Life's tumult we must meet again, May hymn and prayer forever dwell! "Vesper Hymn" is the title which this hymn bears in the author's volume titled Vespers, 1859. It was a source of regret to many of those who had charge of the making of this Hymnal that they could not find a suitable hymn to place within the volume from the writings of America's greatest poet, Henry W. Longfellow. We are glad at least to have the family name and genius represented among our hymns and hymn writers in the person of the poet's brother. At the ordination of the author of this hymn to the ministry, in 1848, a song was used which was written by Henry W. Longfellow especially for the occasion. It contains the following lines that may well be quoted here: Christ to the young man said: "Yet one thing more: If thou wouldst perfect be, Within this temple Christ again, unseen, And evermore beside him on his way Keep me, O keep me, King of kings, 2 Forgive me, Lord, for thy dear Son, 3 Teach me to live, that I may dread 4 O let my soul on thee repose, And may sweet sleep mine eyelids close; Sleep, which shall me more vigorous make, To serve my God, when I awake. Thomas Ken. This is a part-the first four versesof Bishop Ken's famous "Evening Hymn.” The original, including the doxology, con Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness; Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if thou abide with me. Anglican Hymnology places this at the 4 I fear no foe with thee at hand to bless; head of the list of hymns of first rank. Other hymnologists would put "Rock of Ages" or "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" at the head. This evening hymn is a general favorite; and if it is not at the very head of the list, it ought to be named 5 Hold thou thy cross before my closing among the first ten hymns in the English language. (See No. 42.) A recent writer makes this interesting observation: Dryden said of Ken: David left him, when he went to rest, His lyre; and after him he sang the best. Each of Bishop Ken's three great hymns, for morning, evening, and midnight, closed with the long-meter doxology: Praise God, from whom all blessings flow, It is very likely that the lines of this eyes; Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies; Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me! "Light at Eventide" is the title of this truly beautiful hymn, which was first published in leaflet form in September, 1847, and later in the author's Remains, published by his daughter in 1850. It is based on Luke xxiv. 29: "Abide with us; for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." Three verses of the original are omitted: 3 Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word; Familiar, condescending, patient, free, 4 Come not in terrors, as the King of kings, But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings, Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea; Come, Friend of sinners, and abide with me! 5 Thou on my head in early youth didst smile; And, though rebellious and perverse mean- Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee: The circumstances under which this hymn was written are full of pathetic interest. For twenty-four years the author had been curate of Brixham, Devonshire, England, but failing health required a change of climate. He himself tells how he deprecated being divorced from the ocean, the friend and playmate of his childhood; and it can only be conjectured how painful to a heart so highly susceptible was the prospect of being torn from his hardy, seafaring flock. He lingered with them until life was fast ebbing, and then writes: "The swallows are preparing for flight and inviting me to accompany them; and yet, alas! while I talk of flying, I am just able to crawl." Thus, frail and feeble, he rallied to preach a farewell sermon to his fond people and more to administer to them the Lord's Supper. His theme that day was: "The Believer's Dependence upon the Death of Christ." It was September 4, 1847. After closing the deep solemnities of the communion, he dragged himself once A few years ago an American pastor. in visiting the cemetery at Nice where the author is buried, found a young man standing reverently beside the grave of Lyte, his eyes filled with tears. young man told him with deep feeling that he had been led to Christ through the influence of this hallowed song. 51 L. M. HUS far the Lord hath led me on, wearily back to his home. That after-Thus far his power prolongs my days; noon he walked down the garden path to the seashore, and, returning to his study, wrote out this immortal heart song, which 2 he placed that evening in the hands of a near and dear relative. The following poem, titled "Ere the Night Fall," is by the author of this hymn, and is closely akin to it in sentiment. It 3 is one of the most beautiful expressions Why do I sigh to find Life's evening shadows gathering round my way, And every evening shall make known I lay my body down to sleep; Peace is the pillow for my head; Their watchful stations round my bed. Thus when the night of death shall come, My flesh shall rest beneath the ground, And wait thy voice to rouse my tomb, With sweet salvation in the sound. Isaac Watts. Title: "An Evening Hymn," from The keen eye dimming, and the buoyant mind Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book I., Unhinging day by day? 1709. Unaltered. as Two stanzas, the fourth and fifth, are departed loved ones. It is such a poem left out: we would most naturally expect to come from one considerably advanced in years. 4 In vain the sons of earth and hell Tell me a thousand frightful things; My God in safety makes me dwell Beneath the shadow of his wings. 5 Faith in his name forbids my fear, O may thy presence n'er depart! And in the morning make me hear The love and kindness of thy heart. These omitted verses are well worth rereading. On the whole it is a soliloquy rather than a hymn. It is very suitable for private or family worship, but it is not specially adapted for public use. 3 Soon from us the light of day Then, from sin and sorrow free, Author's title: "Evening;" from Songs by the Way, 1824. It is based on Psalm cxli. 2: "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." The writer used the first person singular in starzas one and three. The hymn has been improved by omitting the last verse. We give it because it completes the hymn as published by the author: This sad, sweet strain is a poetical reverie and meditation at eventide concerning loved ones that are gone but not forgotten. It is said to have been printed first in a newspaper about 1840. It is found in Woodworth's Cabinet, 1847, and some authorities assign 1846 as the date of its composition. The internal evidence, in the absence of definite knowledge, would favor the later date, in view of the fact that in 1840 the author, a practicing physician, was only twenty-four years old; and it is not altogether natural for one so young as that to indulge in this particular kind of a reverie concerning O in what divers pains they met! 2 Once more 'tis eventide, and we, 3 O Saviour Christ, our woes dispel; 4 And none, O Lord, have perfect rest, |