Christ My Song - 147
I sing of death and dying - The Song of dying
(Carl Johann Philipp Spitta/Richard Massie/
Johannes Thomas Rüegg)
The Song of dying.
1. I sing of death and dying,
a solemn farewell lay,
which bids thee to be ready,
if death should come this day;
before the sun declineth,
thy course may ended be,
and when again it shineth,
it may not shine on thee. PDF - Midi
2. What is there more uncertain
than life, a fleeting breath,
or what more sure or certain
than dying, parting, death?
Our death is drawing nearer
at every step we take,
our heart's delights are dying,
and with them our hearts break.
3. With staff in hand we journey
like pilgrims to the grave,
the monarch's golden sceptre
is but a pilgrim's stave.
The earth on all bestoweth
a garment at our birth,
upon the earth we wear it,
and leave it to the earth.
4. Pass rugged heights and valleys,
climb mountains, if ye will,
yet can ye not get over
yon little grave's green hill;
thou canst not get beyond it,
though it be e'er so small,
for other hands within it
will lay both thee and all.
5. Then sing of death and dying,
that ancient pilgrim lay,
because thy feet draw nearer
thy grave from day to day;
let it be wafted o'er thee,
like distant vesper bell,
and not alone of dying,
but of thy rising tell.
Richard Massie, Lyra Domestica I, 1863, 134-135.
Translated from the German Stimm an das Lied vom Sterben - Das Lied vom Sterben
of Carl Johann Philipp Spitta.