The Christian — Meditation and Prayer

When softly falls the twilight hour

No. 517
Metre L. M.
Tune BRADBURY.
Words F. E. Belden.
Music F. E. Belden.
Key E-flat major
Singing key E♭ major
Time 3/4
4 stanzas

Words

When softly falls the twilight hourO'er moor and mountain, field and flower,How sweet to leave a world of care,And lift to heav'n the voice of prayer!

In solemn midnight's silence deep,When Nature's voice is hushed in sleep,Then heavy hearts with grief oppressedMay find in prayer the sweetest rest.

And when with reddening blush of mornThe new-born day begins to dawn,Then upward to the mercy-seatLet prayer ascend like incense sweet.

When mid-day's burning heat we feel,When daily cares our hearts would steal,O, then to heaven we look away,And find in prayer our surest stay.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE—MEDITATION AND PRAYER.»; hymn number «517» (large, left), tune name «BRADBURY. L. M.» centred over the music, «F. E. BELDEN.» at the right (capitals and small capitals); «Andante.» in italics above the first system; in the left margin, printed vertically, «by F. E. Belden.» beside system 1 and «Copyrighted 1886» beside system 2. Stanza 1 is set between the staves, one text line per system, with «1.» before «When» («soft - ly», «twi - light» with spaced hyphens, «mount-ain,» with a tight one; extender lines after «falls» and «lift»). Stanzas 2–4 are printed as text below the music, under the italic reference line «624, 301, 431.» (= the words may also be sung to the tunes of hymns 624, 301 or 431): stanza 2 and the first two lines of stanza 3 in the left column, the rest of stanza 3 and stanza 4 in the right column. «F. E. Belden.» in italics after stanza 4. The stanza numbers of the text stanzas are printed without a full stop («2 In»); they are numbered «2.» here like stanza 1. The lines of every stanza are set flush. The printer's thin space before «!» («prayer !») is closed up here. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's («heav'n», «O'er», «mid-day's», «new-born», «mercy-seat», «Nature's»).