We Will Not Close Our Wakeful Eyes

Representative Text

1 We will not close our wakeful eyes,
We will not let our eyelids sleep,
But humbly lift them to the skies,
And all a solemn vigil keep;
So many years on sin bestowed,
Can we not watch one night for God?

2 How many pass the guilty night
In revelings and frantic mirth!
The creature is their sole delight,
Their happiness the things of earth;
For us suffice the season past,
We choose the better part at last.

3 We can, O Jesus, for Thy sake,
Devote our ev'ry hour to Thee;
Speak but the word, our souls shall wake,
And sing with cheerful melody;
Thy praise shall our glad tongues employ,
And ev'ry heart shall leap for joy!

Source: The Christian Hymnary. Bks. 1-4 #603

Author: Charles Wesley

Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepene… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: We will not close our wakeful eyes
Title: We Will Not Close Our Wakeful Eyes
Author: Charles Wesley
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Publication Date: 1972
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

This text is the same as How many pass the guilty night, with verses reordered.

Tune

STELLA (English)

First published in Henri Frederick Hemy's Easy Hymn Tunes for Catholic Schools (1851), STELLA was a folk tune from northern England that Hemy heard sung by children in Stella, a village near Newcastle-upon-Tyme. In modified bar form (AA'B), the tune has an interesting rhythmic structure. Antiphonal…

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Instances

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Text

The Christian Hymnary. Bks. 1-4 #603

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