Ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Ecclesiastes 12:6–7
Words: Martha S. Lippincott, in The Harp of Glory, edited by William T. Dale & H. A. R. Horton (Nashville, Tennessee: W. T. Dale, 1911), number 168. Compare to Saved by Grace.
Music: Marquette Louis Piket (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good photo of Lippincott or Piket (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
When the chord of life is broken,
And the soul flies heavenward,
As the last farewell is uttered,
And fond hearts with sorrow stirred,
How the heav’nly gates will open
To receive the soul released,
As the Spirit will soar upward
With its blissful joy increased.
Jesus, lead us ever onward,
Teach us but the heav’nly way,
So that when the summons calls us,
We rejoicing shall obey,
Following the Master’s calling,
To the higher realms above,
That we’ll feel our spirits going
To the home of perfect love.
As the silver chord is broken,
And the spirit flies back home,
Oh, how sweet to be with Jesus,
In the heav’nly realms to roam;
Freed from all the weights of sorrow,
Only bliss and joys to share,
With our spirits free and trusting
In our heav’nly Father’s care.