Death and Resurrection

Gently, dear Saviour, now we bring

No. 930
Metre L. M.
Tune BARNES.
Words F. E. Belden.
Music F. E. Belden.
Key E-flat major
Singing key E♭ major
Time 3/4
4 stanzas

Words

Gently, dear Saviour, now we bringThe loved one death has called his own;With all our griefs to thee we cling,For unto thee our griefs are known.

Thy way is best; and though we weep,We would not break this calm repose:Thou givest thy beloved sleep,And thou hast willed these eyes should close.

Blest be the grief that closer bindsOur mourning hearts, O Lord, to thee!Blest be the faith,—in death that findsA hope of immortality!

Thus dust to dust, and earth to earth,And ashes cold we lay awayTo wait that glad, immortal birth,—The promised resurrection day.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «DEATH AND RESURRECTION» (no full stop on this page); hymn number «930» (large), tune name «BARNES. L. M.» centred over the music (condensed capitals), «F. E. BELDEN.» at the right (capitals and small capitals); in the left margin, printed vertically and reading upward, «by F. E. Belden.» (beside system 1) and «Copyrighted 1886» (beside system 2). Stanza 1 is interlinear, one line per system, with «1.» before «Gent-ly»: «1. Gent-ly, dear Sav - iour, now we bring The loved one death has called his own;» under system 1 and «With all our griefs to thee we cling, For un - to thee our griefs are known.» under system 2. The italic reference line «924, 927.» stands over stanza 2 (= may also be sung to the tunes of hymns 924 REST or 927 MALVERN, both L. M.). Stanzas 2–4 are printed as text in the left column (hymn 931 fills the right column), numbered «2»–«4» without a full stop (written «2.»–«4.» here, as in the other deliveries of this book), lines 2 and 4 indented. The last line of stanza 2 is broken for width («And thou hast willed these eyes should / close.») and is joined here. «F. E. Belden.» in italics, right-aligned, under stanza 4. The print sets a thin space before «;», «:» and «!» («best ;», «repose :», «thee !», «immortality !», «own ;»); it is closed up here. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's («Saviour», the dashes of «faith,—» and «birth,—»).