In sleep's serene oblivion laid

Representative Text

1 In sleep's serene oblivion laid,
I safely pass'd the silent night:
Again I see the breaking shade,
I drink again the morning light.

2 New-born, I bless the waking hour,
Once more, with awe, rejoice to be:
My conscious soul resumes her pow'r,
And springs, my guardian God! to thee.

3 O guide me through the various maze
My doubtful feet are doom'd to tread;
And spread thy shield's protecting blaze,
Where dangers press around my head.

4 A deeper shade shall soon impend:
A deeper sleep my eyes oppress:
Yet then thy strength shall still defend,
Thy goodness still delight to bless.

5 That deeper shade shall break away;
That deeper sleep shall leave my eyes:
Thy light shall give eternal day;
Thy love, the raptures of the skies.

Source: Hymns, Selected and Original: for public and private worship (1st ed.) #617

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Author: J. Hawkesworth

Hawkesworth, John, LL.D. (b. 1715, and d. Nov. 1773), a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine, proprietor and editor of the Adventurer, and friend of Johnson, Warton, and other literary men of note, published, in 1760, Poems and Translations, and was the author of the well-known Morning hymn "In sleep's serene oblivion laid." This hymn was composed in 1773, "about a month before his death, in a wakeful hour of the night, and dictated to his wife on rising. It appeared in the Universal Theological Magazine for March, 1802." (Miller's Singers & Songs, &c, p. 210.) It was given in Collyer's Selection, 1812; the Leeds Hymn Book, 1853; and others; and is in somewhat extensive use in America. It sometimes begins, as in the American Unitarian Hymns… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	In sleep's serene oblivion laid
Author:	J. Hawkesworth
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Tune

GERMANY (Gardiner)

DAWN (Burgk)

FEDERAL STREET

Henry Kemble Oliver (b. Beverly, MA, 1800; d. Salem, MA, 1885) composed FEDERAL STREET in 1832, possibly as an imitation of earlier psalm tunes in long meter. He took it to a music class taught by Lowell Mason (who may have contributed to the harmony); Mason (PHH 96) published it in his Boston Acade…

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