The Cyber Hymnal ‎#8804

8804. The Bridegroom Coming At Midnight

1 Dark fall the hours this winter-tide,
Strange silence reigns on every side,
And day seems wrapped in gloom,
Save few short hours, which, all too brief,
Light up bare tree and fallen leaf,
Then fade in hapless doom.

2 Now let each lamp be burning bright,
Lest, unaware, the sudden night
Enshroud us in the dark,
And we in vain, through snow and cold,
With wavering feet, seek out the fold,
And Love’s all sheltering ark.

3 O silent hours of wintry days,
From summer’s joy and golden rays,
From autumn’s harvest song,
We turn to you, for ye reveal
The waiting bride, and make us feel,
The Bridegroom comes ere long.

Text Information

• First Line: Dark fall the hours this winter-tide
• Title: The Bridegroom Coming At Midnight
• Author: William C. Dix
• Meter: 88.6 D
• Language: English
• Source: A Vision of All Saints, and Other Poems (London; John Hodges, 1871)
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: Alternate tunes: BREMEN by Thomas Hastings; CORNWALL by Samuel S. Wesley; FRANCES by James McGranahan; MERIBAH by Lowell Mason; Song 18 by Orlando Gibbons

Tune Information

• Name: JOSEPHINE
• Composer: Ernest Richard Kroeger (1901)
• Meter: 88.6 D
• Key: E♭ Major
• Copyright: Public Domain