The Dying Believer

Representative Text

1 Deathless principle, arise;
Soar, thou native of the skies;
Pearl of price, by Jesus bought,
To his glorious likeness wrought,
Go to shine before his throne,
Deck his mediatorial crown;
Go, his triumphs to adorn,
Born of God--to God return.

2 Burst thy shackles, drop thy clay,
Sweetly breathe thyself away;
Singing, to thy crown remove,
Swift of wing, and fired with love.
Shudder not to pass the stream;
Venture all thy care on him;
Him, whose dying love and power
Stilled its tossing, hushed its roar.

3 Saints in glory perfect made,
Wait thy passage through the shade;
Ardent for thy coming o'er,
See, they throng the blissful shore;
Mount, their transports to improve,
Join the longing choir above;
Swiftly to their wish be given,
Kindle higher joy in heaven.

Source: The Voice of Praise: a collection of hymns for the use of the Methodist Church #936

Author: Augustus Toplady

Toplady, Augustus Montague, the author of "Rock of Ages," was born at Farnham, Surrey, November 4, 1740. His father was an officer in the British army. His mother was a woman of remarkable piety. He prepared for the university at Westminster School, and subsequently was graduated at Trinity College, Dublin. While on a visit in Ireland in his sixteenth year he was awakened and converted at a service held in a barn in Codymain. The text was Ephesians ii. 13: "But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." The preacher was an illiterate but warm-hearted layman named Morris. Concerning this experience Toplady wrote: "Strange that I, who had so long sat under the means of grace in England, should b… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Deathless spirit, now arise
Title: The Dying Believer
Author: Augustus Toplady
Meter: 7.7.7.7
Language: English
Refrain First Line: Sign our pledge, now sign
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Deathless principle, arise. A. M. Toplady, [ Death Anticipated.] This hymn first appeared in

“A Memoir of some Principal Circumstances in the Life and Death of the Rev. Augustus Montague Toplady, late Vicar of Broad Hembury, Devon. To which is added, written by himself, the Dying Believer's Address to his soul, and his own last Will and Testament. London, Pr. for J. Matthews, 1778, pr. 6d."

On p. 24 of this Memoir we read:

"The following soliloquy, written some years ago by Mr. Toplady upon the death of a valued friend, has been thought so apposite to himself in his own dying hour that it is presented without any further apology."

After a sentence referring to the Emperor Hadrian, and his poem, "Animula, vagula, blandula," &c, and a note embodying Pope's translation of Hadrian's "Animula”, &c, and of "Musculus Versus," the poem, "Deathless principle, arise" follows, in stanzas of irregular length. It was subsequently shaped into 6 stanzas of 8 lines, and in this form is given in D. Sedgwick's reprint of Toplady's Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1860, p. 165. In its full form it is found in many collections, both old and new, but usually for private use. In some American collections a cento is given beginning: “Deathless spirit, now arise," as in Dr. Hatfield's Church Hymn Book, N. Y., 1872, whilst in others, as Longfellow & Johnson's Unitarian Hymns of the Spirit, Boston, 1864, there is a second cento, "Burst thy shackles! drop thy clay! "

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 64 of 64)
Page Scan

A Collection of Hymns #432

Page Scan

Church Harmonies #700

Page Scan

Hymns for Social Worship #511

Page Scan

Hymns of the Church Militant #227

Page Scan

Plymouth Collection #a1254

Page Scan

Psalms and Hymns, for Christian Use and Worship #H474

Page Scan

The Baptist Hymn and Tune Book #1254

Page Scan

The Lecture-Room Hymn-Book #H422

TextPage Scan

The Voice of Praise #936

Page Scan

The Evangelical Hymnal with Tunes #453

Page Scan

Hymns for the Sick-Room #88

Page Scan

Hymns of the Ages #258

Page Scan

The Spirit of Praise #327

Page Scan

Hymns for Public Worship #494

A Collection of Choral Hymns for the ... Hanson Place Methodist Episcopal Congregation #d34

A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social and Domestic Worship #d164

A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social and Domestic Worship #d165

A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social, and Domestic Worship #d164

Page Scan

A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social, and Domestic Worship #1045

A Compilation of Genuine Church Music. 4th ed. #d62

A New and Choice Selection of Hymns for Social Worship and Pravate Devotion #d21

Chapel Hymns #d123

Compilation of Hymns for the Use of the Churches of the Christian Union #d159

Family Hymns #d55

Hymnal of the Reformed Episcopal Church, adopted in General Council, Chicago, May 1879 #d55

Page Scan

Hymns for Church and Home #404

Prayers and Hymns for the Church and the Home #d110

Revival Hymns ... with a Supplement. 2nd ed. #d62

Songs in the Night; or Hymns for the Sick and Suffering. 2nd ed. #d29

The American Hymn and Tune Book #d138

The Book of Praise #d64

The Halifax Selection of Hymns #d94

Page Scan

The Heart and Voice #304a

Page Scan

The Hymn Book of the Free Methodist Church #741

The Wesleyan Harp, a Collection of Hymns and Tunes Suitable for Social Worship. 1st ed. #d26

Page Scan

Young Singer's Friend #c26

Page Scan

A Collection of Hymns #417

Page Scan

A Selection of Hymns #474

Page Scan

Christian Hymns for Public and Private Worship #519

Page Scan

Free Methodist Hymnal #630

Page Scan

Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church #1004

Page Scan

Hymns and Songs of Praise for Public and Social Worship #1317

Page Scan

Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. ed. #674

Page Scan

New Hymn and Tune book #321d

Page Scan

Ocean Melodies, and Seamen's Companion #76a

Page Scan

The Clifton Chapel Collection of "Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs" #1428

Page Scan

The Guiding Star for Sunday Schools #128

Page Scan

The Psalmist #1089

Page Scan

The Psalmist #1089

Page Scan

The Tribute of Praise and Methodist Protestant Hymn Book #470

Page Scan

The Tribute of Praise #470

Page Scan

The Tribute of Praise #470

Page Scan

The Wesleyan Methodist Hymnal #630

Page Scan

Sacred Melodies for Social Worship #357

Page Scan

The Christian Hymn Book #1072

A Collection of Hymns from Various Authors. New ed. #d76

Page Scan

A Collection of Hymns for the use of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in America #674

Page Scan

Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church #1004

Page Scan

New Hymn and Tune Book #321d

Page Scan

The Gospel Psalmist #685

Suggestions or corrections? Contact us