Church Book ‎#586

586. Brief life is here our portion

1 Brief life is here our portion;
Brief sorrow, short-lived care;
The Life that knows no ending,
The tearless Life, is there.
O happy retribution!
Short toil, eternal rest;
For mortals and for sinners
A mansion with the blest!

2 That we should look, poor wanderers,
To have our Home on high!
The worms should seek for dwellings
Beyond the starry sky!
And now we fight the battle,
But then shall wear the crown
Of full and everlasting
And passionless renown.

3 For thee, O dear, dear Country!
Mine eyes their vigils keep;
For very love, beholding
Thy happy name, they weep:
The mention of thy glory
Is unction to the breast,
And medicine in sickness,
And love, and life, and rest.

4 Thou hast no shore, fair ocean!
Thou hast no time, bright day!
Dear fountain of refreshment
To pilgrims far away!
Upon the Rock of Ages
They raise thy holy tower:
Thine is the victor's laurel,
And thine the golden dower.

5 There glory yet unheard of
Shall shed abroad its ray,
Resolving all enigmas,
An endless Sabbath day.
There God, our King and Portion,
In fulness of His grace,
Shall we behold for ever,
And worship face to face!

Text Information

• First Line: Brief life is here our portion
• Latin Title: Hora Novissima
• Author: Bernard de Morlaix (ab. 1150)
• Translator: John Mason Neale (1851)
• Meter: 7, 6.
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1890
• Topic: Death and Eternity: Heaven; Easter Season, Fourth Sunday; Twenty Sixth Sunday after Trinity
• Notes: Alternate tune: #122 or #335

Tune Information

• Name: QUAM DILECTA
• Meter: 7, 6.
• Key: G Major
• Notes: Composer from index: Rev. W. Staunton, D. D., 1866