By A Collection of Hymns

      S.M.
      1 AND am I born to die?
      To lay this body down?
      And must my trembling spirit fly
      Into a world unknown -
      A land of deepest shade,
      Unpierced by human thought,
      The dreary regions of the dead,
      Where all things are forgot?

      2 Soon as from earth I go,
      What will become of me?
      Eternal happiness or woe
      Must then my portion be;
      Waked by the trumpet's sound,
      I from my grave shall rise,
      And see the Judge with glory crowned,
      And see the flaming skies.

      3 How shall I leave my tomb?
      With triumph or regret?
      A fearful or a joyful doom,
      A curse or blessing meet?
      Will angel-bands convey
      Their brother to the bar?
      Or devils drag my soul away,
      To meet its sentence there?

      4 Who can resolve the doubt
      That tears my anxious breast?
      Shall I be with the damned cast out,
      Or numbered with the blest?
      I must from God be driven,
      Or with my Saviour dwell;
      Must come at his command to heaven,
      Or else - depart to hell.

      5 O thou that wouldst not have
      One wretched sinner die,
      Who died'st thyself; my soul to save
      From endless misery!
      Show me the way to shun
      Thy dreadful wrath severe,
      That when thou comest on thy throne
      I may with joy appear.

      6 Thou art thyself the Way;
      Thyself in me reveal;
      So shall I spend my life's short day
      Obedient to thy will;
      So shall I love my God,
      Because he first loved me,
      And praise thee in thy bright abode,
      To all eternity.