The Martyr's Grave

The moss is green upon the stone

Author: Horatius Bonar
Tune: HARBRIDGE
Published in 1 hymnal

Printable scores: PDF, Noteworthy Composer
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 The moss is green upon the stone;
The stone lies heavy on the mold;
The spot is dreary, sad, and lone;
The forest air is cold.

2 The sky above is wan and bleak;
The ground beneath is brown and bare;
No living voice intrudes to break
The tranquil silence there.

3 Another breeze among the boughs,
And then another leafy shower
Comes rustling down; the sadness grows
More and more sad each hour.

4 The shadow of the drifting cloud
Falls chilly on these gloomy firs,
Deepening the darkness of the wood;
Hardly a leaflet stirs.

5 Quick twinkling thro’ the leafy screen,
The straying gleams they go and come;
Half hidden by the shade, is seen
The old and well known tomb.

6 Here sleeps the martyr’s weary head;
Here molders quiet holy dust,
With the wild wood moss overspread
Resting in silent trust.

7 No summer flowers breathe sweetness here,
It is a lone forsaken spot;
Round lie the leaves of autumn sere,
The leaf that changes not.

8 Far from man’s voice of love or strife,
’Tis fit that here his grave should be,
In death an outcast as in life—
Unnamed in history.

9 Young hopes, young friendships, joys of earth,
Had passed him by like summer dreams;
Solemn his life had been from birth,
Like march of mountain streams.

10 Changeful his lot, like yon vexed sky,
When moorland breezes wildly blow,
His weary soul now rests on high,
His body sleeps below.

11 Rest, weary dust, lie here an hour;
Ere long, like blossom from the sod,
Thou shalt come forth a glorious flower,
Fit for the eye of God.

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #9555

Author: Horatius Bonar

Horatius Bonar was born at Edinburgh, in 1808. His education was obtained at the High School, and the University of his native city. He was ordained to the ministry, in 1837, and since then has been pastor at Kelso. In 1843, he joined the Free Church of Scotland. His reputation as a religious writer was first gained on the publication of the "Kelso Tracts," of which he was the author. He has also written many other prose works, some of which have had a very large circulation. Nor is he less favorably known as a religious poet and hymn-writer. The three series of "Hymns of Faith and Hope," have passed through several editions. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: The moss is green upon the stone
Title: The Martyr's Grave
Author: Horatius Bonar
Meter: 8.8.8.6
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #9555
  • PDF (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer Score (NWC)

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The Cyber Hymnal #9555

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