Scripture Verse

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 1 Corinthians 15:55

Introduction

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Alexander Pope (1688–1744)

Words: Alex­an­der Pope, 1712. The words are based on the death bed ut­ter­ance att­ribut­ed to Ro­man em­per­or Ha­dr­ian: Anim­u­la vag­u­la, blan­du­la, hos­pes com­e­sque cor­poris (Flit­ting lit­tle soul, sweet, friend and com­rade of the body).

Music: Pi­lot John E. Gould, 1871 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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John E. Gould (1821–1875)

Lyrics

Vital spark of hea­ven­ly flame,
Quit, O quit this mor­tal frame!
Trembling, hop­ing, lin­ger­ing fly­ing,
O the pain, the bliss of dy­ing!
Cease, fond na­ture, cease thy strife,
And let me lang­uish into life.

Hark! they whis­per; an­gels say,
Sister spi­rit, come away!
What is this ab­sorbs me quite—
Steals my sens­es, shuts my sight,
Drowns my spi­rit, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?

The world re­cedes—it dis­ap­pears;
Heav’n op­ens on my eyes; my ears
With sounds se­raph­ic ring!
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O grave! where is thy vic­to­ry!
O death! where is thy sting?