The Cyber Hymnal ‎#9518

9518. Awake, My Soul, Nor Slumbering Lie

1 Awake, my soul, nor slumbering lie,
Amid the gloomy haunts of death;
Perhaps the awful hour is nigh,
Commissioned for my parting breath.

2 That awful hour will soon appear,
Swift on the wings of time it flies,
When all that pains or pleases here,
Will vanish from my closing eyes.

3 Death calls my friends, my neighbors hence,
And none resist the fatal dart;
Continual warnings strike my sense,
And shall they fail to reach my heart?

4 Shall gay amusements rise between,
When scenes of horror spread around?
Death’s pointed arrows fly unseen,
But ah, how sure, how deep they wound!

5 Think, O my soul, how much depends,
On the short period of a day;
Shall time, which Heaven in mercy lends,
Be negligently thrown away?

6 Thy remnant minutes strive to use,
Awake! rouse every active power!
And not in dreams or trifles lose,
This little now! this precious hour!

7 Lord of my life, inspire my heart,
With heavenly ardor, grace divine;
Nor let Thy presence e’er depart,
For strength, and life, and death are Thine.

8 O teach me the celestial skill,
Each awful warning to improve!
And while my days are shortening still,
Prepare me for the joys above.

9 Ensure my nobler life on high,
Life, from a dying Savior’s blood!
Then, though my minutes swiftly fly,
They bear me nearer to my God.

Text Information

• First Line: Awake, my soul, nor slumbering lie
• Title: Awake, My Soul, Nor Slumbering Lie
• Author: Anne Steele
• Meter: LM
• Language: English
• Source: Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, 1760
• Copyright: Public Domain

Tune Information

• Name: AMES
• Composer: Sigismund Ritter von Neukomm, 1778-1858
• Meter: LM
• Key: B♭ Major
• Copyright: Public Domain