1 Let me go, the day is breaking,
Dear companions, let me go;
We have spent a night of waking
In the wilderness below;
Upward now I bend my way;
Part we here at break of day.
2 Let me go; I may not tarry,
Wrestling thus with doubts and fears;
Angels wait, my soul to carry,
Where my risen Lord appears;
Friends and kindred, weep not so;
If ye love me, let me go.
3 We have travelled long together,
Hand in hand, and heart in heart,
Both through fair and stormy weather--
And 'tis hard-- 'tis hard to part:
While I sigh "Farewell" to you;
Answer, one and all, "Adieu!"
4 'Tis not darkness gathering round me,
Which withdraws me from your sight;
Walls of flesh no more can bound me;
But, translated into light,
Like the lark on mounting wing,
Though unseen, you hear me sing.
Heaven's broad day hath o'er me broken,
Far beyond earth's span of sky:
I am dead?--Nay, by this token
Know that I have ceased to die:
Would you solve the mystery?
Come up hither--come and see.
Source: The Book of Worship #365
James Montgomery (b. Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, 1771; d. Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, 1854), the son of Moravian parents who died on a West Indies mission field while he was in boarding school, Montgomery inherited a strong religious bent, a passion for missions, and an independent mind. He was editor of the Sheffield Iris (1796-1827), a newspaper that sometimes espoused radical causes. Montgomery was imprisoned briefly when he printed a song that celebrated the fall of the Bastille and again when he described a riot in Sheffield that reflected unfavorably on a military commander. He also protested against slavery, the lot of boy chimney sweeps, and lotteries. Associated with Christians of various persuasions, Montgomery supported missio… Go to person page >
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