The past is dark with sin and shame

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The past is dark with sin and shame

Author: Thomas W. Higginson
Published in 30 hymnals

Piano/Organ
	His Majesty and Power (Jubilant Hymns of…

Representative Text

The Past is dark with sin and shame,
The Future dim with doubt and fear;
But, Father, yet we praise Thy name,
Whose guardian love is always near.

For man has striven, ages long,
With faltering steps to come to Thee,
And in each purpose high and strong
The influence of Thy grace could see.

He could not breathe an earnest prayer,
But Thou wast kinder than he dreamed,
As age by age brought hopes more fair,
And nearer still Thy kingdom seemed.

But never rose within his breast
A trust so calm and deep as now;—
Shall not the weary find a rest?
Father, Preserver, answer Thou!

’Tis dark around, ’tis dark above,
But through the shadow streams the sun;
We cannot doubt Thy certain love;
And Man’s true aim shall yet be won!

Source: A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (15th ed.) #187

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Author: Thomas W. Higginson

Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, M.A., was born at Cambridge, U.S.A., Dec. 22, 1823, and educated at Harvard. From 1847 to 1850 he was Pastor of an Unitarian Church at Newburyport, and from 1852 to 1858 at Worcester. In 1858 he retired from the Ministry, and devoted himself to literature. During the Rebellion he was colonel of the first negro regiment raised in South Carolina. In addition to being for some time a leading contributor to the Atlantic Monthly, he published Outdoor Papers, 1863; Malbone, 1869; and other works. During his residence at the Harvard Divinity School he contributed the following hymns to Longfellow and Johnson's Book of Hymns, 1846:— 1. No human eyes Thy face may see. God known through love. 2. The land our fathe… Go to person page >

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First Line:	The past is dark with sin and shame
Author:	Thomas W. Higginson

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Tune

WAREHAM (Knapp)

William Knapp (b. Wareham, Dorsetshire, England, 1698; d. Poole, Dorsetshire, 1768) composed WAREHAM, so named for his birthplace. A glover by trade, Knapp served as the parish clerk at St. James's Church in Poole (1729-1768) and was organist in both Wareham and Poole. Known in his time as the "coun…

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BRESLAU

Alternative names: HERR JESU CHRIST, MEINS; HERR JESU CHRIST, MEINS LEBENS LICHT, LORD JESUS CHRIST, MY LIFE, MY LIGHT;

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FEDERAL STREET

Henry Kemble Oliver (b. Beverly, MA, 1800; d. Salem, MA, 1885) composed FEDERAL STREET in 1832, possibly as an imitation of earlier psalm tunes in long meter. He took it to a music class taught by Lowell Mason (who may have contributed to the harmony); Mason (PHH 96) published it in his Boston Acade…

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Choral

A Song of Community - (Choral Score)

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Hymns of the United Church (1916), p.110

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Instances

Instances (1 - 30 of 30)	Title	First Line	Tune	Author	Meter	Date	Subject
A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (15th ed.) #187	The Hope of Man	The Past is dark with sin and shame			L. M.	1866
A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion. (10th ed.) #187	The Past is dark with sin and shame	The Past is dark with sin and shame				1848
Church Harmonies: a collection of hymns and tunes for the use of Congregations #893	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame				1876
Hymn and Tune Book for the Church and the Home and Services for Congregational Worship. Rev. ed. #d688	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas W. Higginson		1878
Hymn and Tune Book for the Church and the Home. (Rev. ed.) #483	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		T. W. Higginson		1883
Hymn and Tune Book, for the Church and the Home #461	The Past is dark with sin and shame	The Past is dark with sin and shame		T> W. Higginson		1868
Hymns for Christian Devotion: especially adapted to the Universalist denomination #999	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas W. Higginson		1865
Hymns for Christian Devotion: especially adapted to the Universalist denomination. (New ed.) #999	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame			L. M.	1871	Humanity \| its cause hopeful; The Cause of Humanity Hopeful \|
Hymns for the Christian Church, for the Use of the First Church of Christ in Boston #235	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		T. W. Higginson		1869
Hymns of Hope and Courage #d74	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas W. Higginson		1937
Hymns of the Church Universal #433	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		T. W. Higginson		1890
Hymns of the Spirit #684	The Past is dark with sin and shame	The Past is dark with sin and shame				1864
Hymns of the Spirit for Use in the Free Churches of America #321a	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame	BRESLAU	Thomas W. Higginson		1937
Hymns of the Spirit for Use in the Free Churches of America #321b	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame	FEDERAL STREET	Thomas W. Higginson		1937
Hymns of the United Church #d383	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas W. Higginson		1926
Hymns of the United Church #126	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame	WAREHAM	Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 1822-1911		1916
Isles of Shoals Hymn Book and Candle Light Service #108	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas W. Higginson		1908
National Hymn and Tune Book: for congregations, schools and the home #19	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame				1875
Prayers and Hymns for the Church and the Home #d655	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas W. Higginson		1866
Sacred Songs For Public Worship: a hymn and tune book #22	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		T. W. Higginson		1883
Services for Congregational Worship #380	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas Wentworth Higginson		1914
Singers and Songs of the Liberal Faith #509	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas W. Higginson		1875	The Hope of Man \|
Social Hymns of Brotherhood and Aspiration #d88	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas W. Higginson		1914
The Chapel Service Book #d143	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas W. Higginson		1920
The Gospel Psalmist #265	The Hope of Man	The past is dark with sin and shame		Anonymous		1861	Christ's Work and Dominion \|
The New Hymn and Tune Book #d429	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas W. Higginson		1914
The Plymouth Hymnal #d515	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas W. Higginson		1893
The Students' Hymnal #137	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas Wentworth Higginson		1912
Unitarian Service Book, and Hymns for Church and Home. Abridged ed. #d417	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas W. Higginson		1904
University Hymn Book for use in the Chapel of Harvard University #d237	The past is dark with sin and shame	The past is dark with sin and shame		Thomas W. Higginson		1895