Unvail thy bosom, faithful tomb

Author: Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts was the son of a schoolmaster, and was born in Southampton, July 17, 1674. He is said to have shown remarkable precocity in childhood, beginning the study of Latin, in his fourth year, and writing respectable verses at the age of seven. At the age of sixteen, he went to London to study in the Academy of the Rev. Thomas Rowe, an Independent minister. In 1698, he became assistant minister of the Independent Church, Berry St., London. In 1702, he became pastor. In 1712, he accepted an invitation to visit Sir Thomas Abney, at his residence of Abney Park, and at Sir Thomas' pressing request, made it his home for the remainder of his life. It was a residence most favourable for his health, and for the prosecution of his literary… Go to person page >

Unvail thy bosom, faithful tomb. I. Watts. [Burial.] This is the last of five odes which are appended to a letter "To Lucius, on the death of Serena," published in his Reliquiae Juveniles, &c, 1734. It is in 4 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed, "Ode v. A Funeral Ode at the Interment of the Body, supposed to be sung by the Mourners." It has passed into several hymn-books in Great Britain and America

John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)