Stoop down, my thoughts, that use to rise

From ChoralWiki

Revision as of 03:55, 3 September 2015 by BarryJ (talk | contribs) (Added text)

(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

General information

This is an hymn by Isaac Watts, his Hymn 28 of Book 2, published 1709.

Settings by composers

Samuel Babcock — Dissolution English STB
Daniel Belknap — Dissolution English SATB
Samuel Holyoke — Hague English STB,SATB
John Massey — Stoop down, my thoughts, that used to rise English SATB
Daniel Read — Warren English SATB
Samuel Wakefield — Funeral English STB

Text and translations

English text

Stoop down, my thoughts, that use to rise,
Converse awhile with death;
Think how a gasping mortal lies,
And pants away his breath.

His quivering lip hangs feebly down,
His pulses faint and few;
Then, speechless, with a doleful groan
He bids the world adieu.

But O! the soul that never dies!
At once it leaves the clay!
Ye thoughts, pursue it where it flies,
And track its wondrous way.

Up to the courts where angels dwell,
It mounts triumphant there;
Or devils plunge it down to hell,
In infinite despair.

And must my body faint and die?
And must this soul remove?
O for some guardian angel nigh,
To bear it safe above!

Jesus, to thy dear faithful hand
My naked soul I trust,
And my flesh waits for thy command
To drop into my dust.

Death and eternity by Isaac Watts