Page:The Methodist Hymn-Book Illustrated.djvu/483

 THE STORY OF THE HYMNS AND THEIR WRITERS 471

Hymn 919. The roseate hues of early dawn.

CECIL F. ALEXANDER (182).

S.P.C.K. Hymns, 1852. Mrs. Alexander recast it in Hymns Descriptive and Devotional ; but though more poetical, this form is less suited for public worship. It contains two new verses

The lark that soar d so high at dawn

On weary wing lies low, The flowers so fragrant all day long

Are dead or folded now. O for the songs that never cease

Where saints to angels call ! O for the tree of life that stands

By the pure river s fall !

O er the dull ocean broods the night

And all the strand is dark, Save where a line of broken foam

Lies at low water mark. O for the land that needs no light,

Where never night shall be ! O for the quiet home in heaven,

Where there is no more sea !

Hymn 920. The shadows of the evening hours.

ADELAIDE A. PROCTER (379). Evening, in her Legends and Lyrics, enlarged edition, 1862.

Hymn 921. The radiant morn hath passed away. GODFREY THRING, D.D. (129).

Afternoon ; written in 1864, and published in Ifymns, Congrega tional and Others, 1866. The first hymn in Appendix to Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1868. The second verse originally read

Our life is but a fading dawn ; Its glorious noon how quickly past ; Lead us, O Christ, when all is gone, Safe home at last.

Dr. Thring s attention was called by a correspondent to the fact that the dawn does not fade, but grows brighter. He had

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