Death and Resurrection

Sweet be thy rest

No. 970
Metre P. M.
Tune SWEET BE THY REST.
Words F. E. Belden.
Music D. S. Hakes.
Key D-flat major
Singing key D♭ major
Time 4/4
3 stanzas

Words

Sweet be thy rest,And peaceful thy sleeping;God's way is best,Thou art in his keeping.O blessed sleepWhere ills ne'er molest thee!Why should we weep?For heaven hath blessed thee:Sweet be thy rest.

Thy work is done,Thy sowing and reaping;Thy crown is won,And hushed is thy weeping.From tears and woes,From earth's midnight dreary,Thine is reposeWhere none ever weary:Sweet be thy rest.

Sweet be thy rest;No more we may greet thee'Till with the blestIn heaven we meet thee.O union sweetThat death cannot sever!There we shall meet,Where sad tears fall never:Sweet be thy rest.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «DEATH AND RESURRECTION.»; hymn number «970» (large, left), tune name «SWEET BE THY REST. P. M.» centred over the music (condensed capitals), «D. S. HAKES.» at the right (capitals and small capitals); printed vertically in the right margin beside system 2, reading downward, «By per. O. Ditson & Co.» No reference line is printed. Stanza 1 is interlinear, between the staves, one line per system, in a small condensed roman, with «1.» before «Sweet»: «Sweet be thy rest, And peace - ful thy sleeping; God's way is best, Thou art in his keep - ing. O blessed» / «sleep Where ills ne'er molest thee! Why should we weep? For heav - en hath blessed thee: Sweet be thy rest.» — the syllable hyphens are closed up here («peaceful», «keeping», «heaven»); the words of lines 3–4 («God's way is best, Thou art in his keeping.») are sung by the alto and the tenor alone (the soprano and the bass rest). Stanzas 2–3 are printed as nine-line text in two columns below the music, followed by «F. E. Belden.» in italics; the stanza numbers are printed without a full stop («2 Thy»), numbered «2.»–«3.» here like stanza 1. Lines 2, 4, 6 and 8 are indented in the print, the refrain line «Sweet be thy rest.» further. «There» (stanza 3, line 7) is printed in italics. The printer's thin space before «;», «:», «!» and «?» («rest ;», «weary :», «sever !», «never :») is closed up here; the apostrophes are written straight («God's», «ne'er», «earth's», «'Till»). Spelling («'Till»), punctuation and capitals are the print's.