The Grave Shall Restore Its Trust

Representative Text

1 Unvail thy bosom, faithful tomb;
Take this new treasure to thy trust
And give these sacred relics room
To slumber in the quiet dust.

2 Nor pain, nor grief, nor anxious fear,
Invades thy bounds; no mortal woes
Can reach the peaceful sleeper here,
While angels watch the soft repose.

3 So Jesus slept; God's dying Son
Passed through the grave, and blessed the bed:
Rest here, blest saint, till from his throne
The morning break, and pierce the shade.

Source: The Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book: for use in divine worship #917

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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 >

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First Line:	Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb
Title:	The Grave Shall Restore Its Trust
Author:	Isaac Watts
Meter:	8.8.8.8
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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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)

Notes

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)

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