The foe behind, the deep before

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The foe behind, the deep before

Author: John Mason Neale
Published in 26 hymnals

Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

The foe behind, the deep before,
Our hosts have dared and passed the sea;
And Pharaoh's warriors strew the shore,
And Israel's ransomed tribes are free.
Lift up, lift up your voices now!
The whole wide world rejoices now!
The Lord hath triumphed gloriously!
The Lord shall reign victoriously!
Happy morrow,
Turning sorrow
Into peace and mirth!
Bondage ending,
Love descending
O'er the earth!
Seals assuring,
Guards securing,
Watch His earthly prison:
Seals are shattered,
Guards are scattered,
Christ hath risen!

No longer must the mourners weep,
Nor call departed Christians dead;
For death is hallowed into sleep
And every grave becomes a bed.
Now once more
Eden's door
Open stands to mortan eyes;
For Christ hath risen, and men shall rise,
Now at last,
Old things past,
Hope and joy and peace begin:
For Christ has won, and man shall win.

It is not exile, rest on high;
It is not sadness, peace from strife:
To fall asleep is not to die;
To dwell with Christ is better life.
Where our banner leads us,
We may safely go;
Where our Chief precedes us,
We may face the foe.
His right arm is o'er us,
He will guide us through;
Christ hath gone before us:
Christians, follow you!

Source: Christ in Song #286

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Author: John Mason Neale

John M. Neale's life is a study in contrasts: born into an evangelical home, he had sympathies toward Rome; in perpetual ill health, he was incredibly productive; of scholarly temperament, he devoted much time to improving social conditions in his area; often ignored or despised by his contemporaries, he is lauded today for his contributions to the church and hymnody. Neale's gifts came to expression early–he won the Seatonian prize for religious poetry eleven times while a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, England. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1842, but ill health and his strong support of the Oxford Movement kept him from ordinary parish ministry. So Neale spent the years between 1846 and 1866 as a warden of Sackvi… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	The foe behind, the deep before
Author:	John Mason Neale
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

The foe behind, the deep before. J. M. Neale. [Easter Carol.] This carol for Easter was published in his Carols for Eastertide, 1854, p. 55, in 12 stanzas. It is found in several modern hymn-books, but usually in an abbreviated form. It reads like an Ode from a Greek Canon, and is sometimes taken for one. As Dr. Neale translated the Canon for Easter by St. John of Damascus, "Tis the day of resurrection" in 1853, and this Carol for Easter was published in 1854, it is not improbable that the direct source of inspiration was the Greek of St. John, although many of Neale's carols for Eastertide are “free imitations" of Latin Sequences.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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The foe behind, the deep before, p. 1148, ii. The melody in Dr. Neale's Carols for Eastertide, 1854, No, xxii., is taken from the Piae Cantiones, 1582 (p. 211, ii.), where it is set to "Auctor humani generis"; the part used beginning at the words "Sic morte mortem destruis." Dr. Neale only takes a few phrases from the Latin, and his Carol is practically original. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.]

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

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