Long did I toil and knew no earthly rest

Long did I toil and knew no earthly rest

Author: Henry Francis Lyte
Published in 31 hymnals

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Representative Text

1 Long did I toil, and knew no earthly rest,
Far did I rove, and found no certain home;
At last I sought them in His sheltering breast,
Who opes His arms, and bids the weary come:
With Him I found a home, a rest divine,
And since then I am His, and He is mine.

2 The good I have is from His stores supplied,
The ill is only what He deems the best;
He for my Friend, I’m rich with naught beside,
And poor without Him, though of all possessed:
Changes may come, I take, or I resign,
Content, while I am His, while He is mine.

3 Whate’er may change, in Him no change is seen,
A glorious sun that wanes not nor declines,
Above the clouds and storms He walks serene,
And on His people’s inward darkness shines:
All may depart, I fret not, nor repine,
While I my Savior’s am, while He is mine.

4 While here, alas! I know but half His love,
But half discern Him, and but half adore;
But when I meet Him in the realms above,
I hope to love Him better, praise Him more,
And feel, and tell, amid the choir divine,
How fully I am His, and He is mine.

Source: The Lutheran Hymnary #396

Author: Henry Francis Lyte

Lyte, Henry Francis, M.A., son of Captain Thomas Lyte, was born at Ednam, near Kelso, June 1, 1793, and educated at Portora (the Royal School of Enniskillen), and at Trinity College, Dublin, of which he was a Scholar, and where he graduated in 1814. During his University course he distinguished himself by gaining the English prize poem on three occasions. At one time he had intended studying Medicine; but this he abandoned for Theology, and took Holy Orders in 1815, his first curacy being in the neighbourhood of Wexford. In 1817, he removed to Marazion, in Cornwall. There, in 1818, he underwent a great spiritual change, which shaped and influenced the whole of his after life, the immediate cause being the illness and death of a brother cler… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Long did I toil and knew no earthly rest
Author: Henry Francis Lyte
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Long did I toil and know no earthly rest. H. F. Lyte. [Peace in Jesus.] Appeared in his Poems chiefly Religious, 1833, p. 76, in 6 stanzas of 6 lines. It combines unwavering confidence with plaintive sweetness, and is one of his most touching efforts. Its use is extensive; but usually two or more stanzas are omitted. Original text in Lyra Britannica, 1867, p. 377.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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