The End of Life

And am I only born to die?

Author: Charles Wesley
Published in 121 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 And am I only born to die?
And must I suddenly comply
With nature’s stern decree?
What after death for me remains?
Celestial joys, or hellish pains,
To all eternity.

2 How then ought I on earth to live,
While God prolongs the kind reprieve,
And props the house of clay;
My sole concern, my single care,
To watch, and tremble, and prepare
Against the fatal day!

3 No room for mirth or trifling here,
For worldly hope, or worldly fear,
If life so soon is gone;
If now the judge is at the door,
And all mankind must stand before
The inexorable throne!

4 Nothing is worth a thought beneath,
But how I may escape the death
That never, never dies!
How make mine own election sure;
And when I fail on earth, secure
A mansion in the skies.

5 Jesus, vouchsafe a pitying ray,
Be Thou my guide, be Thou my way
To glorious happiness.
Ah! write the pardon on my heart;
And whensoe’er I hence depart,
Let me depart in peace.

Source: Book of Worship (Rev. ed.) #296

Author: Charles Wesley

Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepene… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: And am I only born to die?
Title: The End of Life
Author: Charles Wesley
Meter: 8.8.6.8.8.6
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

And am I only born to die? C. Wesley. [Death and Eternity.] This hymn, similar in character to the above, appeared in the same work— Hymns for Children, 1763, in 6 stanzas of 6 lines. In 1780 it was included in the Wesleyan Hymn Book. and from thence it has passed into all the collections of the Methodist bodies, and several others, in Great Britain and America. Stevenson gives some interesting details of circumstances attending the singing of this hymn, in his Methodist Hymn Book Notes, 1883, p. 54. Original text in Poetical Works of J. & C. Wesley, 1868-72, vol. vi. p. 432.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #1
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 100 of 121)

A Collection of Hymns Adapted to the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church #d24

A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social and Domestic Worship #d28

A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social and Domestic Worship #d28

A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social, and Domestic Worship #d28

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A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social, and Domestic Worship #673

A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in America #d17

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A Collection of Hymns for the use of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in America #1072

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A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church #552

A Collection of Hymns for the use of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America #d18

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A Collection of Hymns, for the Use of the People Called Methodists, with a Supplement #44

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A Collection of Hymns, for the use of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America. #674

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A Collection of Hymns #L46

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A Collection of Hymns #552

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A Collection of Hymns #43

A Collection of Psalms and Hymns Suited to the Various Occasions of Public Worship #d18

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns #347

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A Collection of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs #347

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A Collection of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs #347

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A Collection of Spiritual Hymns #610

A Compilation of Genuine Church Music. 4th ed. #d11

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A Manual of Devotion and Hymns for the House of Refuge, City of New York #347

A New and Choice Selection of Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs #d9

A New Book of Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal and Other Churches #d9

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A New Selection of Hymns #93

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A Pocket hymn book, designed as a constant companion for the pious #XI

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A Pocket Hymn Book #XI

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A Pocket hymn-book, designed as a constant companion for the pious #XI

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A Pocket Hymn-book #11

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A Pocket Hymn-Book #XI

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A Selection of Hymns for Worship (2nd ed.) #348

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Baptist Hymn Book #aB163

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Book of Worship (Rev. ed.) #296

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Book of Worship #296

Camp Meeting Hymn Book #d8

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Choral Echoes from the Church of God in All Ages #283

Compilation of Hymns for the Use of the Churches of the Christian Union #d28

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Familiar Hymns for Social Meetings #21

Family and Social Melodies #d15

General Baptist Hymn Book #d19

Harmonia Sacra, being a Compilation of Church Music. 10th ed #d10

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Hymn and Tune Book of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (Round Note Ed.) #593

Hymn Book of the Colored M.E. Church in America #d15

Hymn Book of the Holiness Movement Church #d19

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Hymn Book of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South #593

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Hymn Book of the Methodist Protestant Church #623

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Hymn Book of the Methodist Protestant Church. (11th ed.) #623

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Hymn Book of the Methodist Protestant Church. (2nd ed.) #801

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Hymn book of the Methodist Protestant Church. (4th ed.) #801

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Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church #968

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Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church #968

Hymns and Psalms, Original and Modern, Selected and Revised #d24

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Hymns and Songs #97

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Hymns and Tunes for Prayer and Social Meetings #179

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Hymns for Christian Melody #949

Hymns for Sunday Schools, Selected from Various Authoors #d14

Hymns for the Use of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Impr. ed. #d20

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Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. ed. #1072

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Hymns of the Church Militant #547

Hymns on Various Subjects #d2

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Hymns, Selected and Original, for Public and Private Worship #232

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Hymns, Selected and Original #232

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Hymns #232

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Hymns #232

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Hymns #232

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Hymns #232

Methodist Hymn and Tune Book #d29

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Methodist Hymn-Book #875

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Methodist Social Hymn Book #253

Musical Gems. 7th ed. #d6

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New Hymn and Tune book #309b

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New Hymn and Tune Book #309b

Pocket Hymn Book of the Methodist Episcopal Church #d15

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Salvation Army Songs #137

Spiritual Songs and Hymns for Pilgrims. New Church ed. #d13

Sunday School Hymn Book #d17

The African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymn Book #d19

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The American Baptist Sabbath-School Hymn-Book #256

The American Hymn and Tune Book #d21

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The Baptist Hymn Book #B163

The Baptist Sabbath School Hymn Book #d28

The Bible Harp #d14

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The Book of Worship #423

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The Centenary Singer #338

The Chapel Hymn Book #d17

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The Cyber Hymnal #1

The Harmonia Sacra. 14th ed. #d11

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The Heart and Voice #285a

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The Hymn Book of the African Methodist Episcopal Church #705

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The Hymn Book of the Free Methodist Church #148

The Lesser Hymnal #d9

Pages

Exclude 120 pre-1979 instances
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