Come Unto Me

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Come unto me when shadows darkly gather

Author: Catherine Harbison Waterman Esling
Tune: HENLEY
Published in 271 hymnals

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Representative Text

1 Come unto Me, when shadows darkly gather,
When the sad heart is weary and distressed;
Seeking for comfort from your heav'nly Father,
Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.

2 Ye who have mourned when the tender flowers were taken,
When the ripe fruit fell richly to the ground,
When the loved slept, in brighter homes to waken,
Where their pale brows with spirit-wreaths are crowned,

3 Large are the mansions in thy Father’s dwelling,
Glad are the homes that sorrows never dim;
Sweet are the harps in holy music swelling,
Soft are the tones which raise the heavenly hymn.

4 There like an Eden blossoming in gladness,
Bloom the fair flowers the earth too rudely pressed:
Come unto Me, all ye who droop in sadness,
Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.

Amen.

Source: The Hymnal and Order of Service #523

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Author: Catherine Harbison Waterman Esling

Esling, Catherine H., née Watterman, was born in 1812, and married in 1840 to George J. Esling, of Philadelphia. Her poems were collected and published in 1850 as The Broken Bracelet, and other Poems. She is widely known as the author of "Come unto Me, when shadows darkly gather" (Invitation), which appeared in the Christian Keepsake annual, 1839, in 9 stanzas of 4 lines. It is usually given in an abbreviated form. Mrs. Esling is a member of the American Protestant Episcopal Church. (Nutter, 1884, p. 253.) --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) Go to person page >

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