Bible Songs — Special Selections

Dream of Pilate's Wife

It was not sleep that bound my sight

No. 1394
Tune DREAM OF PILATE'S WIFE.
Words Anon.
Music Arranged.
Key A-flat major
Singing key G♭ major
Time 3/4
6 stanzas

Words

[May be sung as a Solo.]

It was not sleep that bound my sightUpon that well remembered night;It was not fancy's fitful powerBeguiled me in that solemn hour:But o'er the vision of my soulThe mystic future seemed to roll;And in the deep, prophetic trance,Revealed its treasures to my glance.

Before my wond'ring eyes there stoodA vast, a countless multitude;The hoary sire, the prattling child,The mother, and the maiden mild,The gladsome youth, and man of care—All tribes, all ages, mingled there;And all, where'er I turned to see,In humble silence bent the knee.

As o'er the crowded scene I gazed,Against the lurid, eastern sky,I saw the shameful cross upraised,I saw the sufferer doomed to die.'Twas He whom late with sorrowing mien,In Zion's streets I oft had seen;And now in blood and agony,He turned a dying look on me.

Then softly from that gath'ring throngArose the sound of solemn song;And while I caught the swelling lay,The myriad voices seemed to say—"And we believe in Him that died,By Pontius Pilate crucified—That he shall come, when time is fled,To judge the living and the dead."

I woke; thou wast not by my side,I heard a loud exulting cry:I heard the scornful priests deride,The elders murmur, "Crucify!"O Pilate! hadst thou marked my prayer,That guiltless blood to shield and spare,That deed of horror would not beA stain to thine—a curse to thee!

Our early days of joy are past;Our youthful spring is withered all;Afar from Rome our lot is cast,Beneath the sunny skies of Gaul;The thoughts that memory treasures yetOf other days, begin to flee;But never shall my heart forgetThe Crucified of Galilee!

About this hymn

As printed As printed: hymn number «1394» (large) at the left, title «DREAM OF PILATE'S WIFE.» centred (condensed capitals with larger initials); under it the epigraph in two centred lines, «"And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had / scourged him, to be crucified."—Mark 15 : 15.» (old-style figures; the thin spaces around the colon closed up); «ANON.» (capitals and small capitals) at the left, «[May be sung as a Solo.]» (bold, in square brackets) in the centre and «ARRANGED.» at the right, above system 1; folio «602» under the music. No meter, no tune name other than the title, no tempo word, no reference line, no copyright line. The six stanzas are interlinear in all four systems, numbered «1.»–«6.» in system 1 only; no refrain. Each printed line of words carries two verse lines; the verse lines are given here one per line, by the rhymes (sight/night, power/hour, soul/roll, trance/glance; stood/multitude, child/mild, care/there, see/knee; gazed/upraised, sky/die, mien/seen, agony/me; throng/song, lay/say, died/crucified, fled/dead; side/deride, cry/Crucify, prayer/spare, be/thee; past/cast, all/Gaul, yet/forget, flee/Galilee) and the capitals that open them. The print sets a thin space before «; : !»; it is closed up here. Words divided under the notes are joined («Up - on», «re - membered», «Be - fore», «count-less», «mul - ti - tude», «crowd-ed», «A - gainst», «lu - rid», «east - ern», «soft - ly», «A - rose», «sol - emn», «ex - ult - ing», «ear - ly», «youth-ful», «with - ered», «fan - cy's», «fit - ful», «hoa - ry», «prat- tling», «maid - en», «suf - ferer», «sweil - ing», «myr-iad», «voic - es», «scorn-ful», «de - ride», «el - ders», «mur - mur», «Cru - ci - fy», «A - far», «sun - ny», «vis - ion», «mys - tic», «fu - ture», «a - ges», «min - gled», «Zi - on's», «be-lieve», «Ponti - us», «Pi - late», «cru - ci-fied», «guilt - less», «oth - er», «be - gin», «prophet - ic», «treas - ures», «wher-e'er» → «where'er», «hum - ble», «si - lence», «ag - o - ny», «dy - ing», «liv - ing», «hor - ror», «nev - er», «for - get», «Cru - ci - fied», «Gal - i - lee»). Elisions and apostrophes as printed, written straight («wond'ring», «gath'ring», «o'er», «'Twas», «Zion's», «fancy's», «where'er»). «sweiling» (stanza 4) is printed so — a printer's slip for «swelling», kept as printed and listed in uncertainties.md.