[Music]
And am I born to die,
To lay this body down?
And must this trembling spirit fly
Into a world unknown?
Waked by the trumpet's sound,
I from the grave shall rise,
To see the Judge with glory crowned,
And view the flaming skies.
How shall I leave the tomb?
With triumph or regret?
A fearful or a joyful doom?
A curse or blessing meet?
I must from God be driv'n,
Or with my Saviour dwell;
Must come at His command to heav'n,
Or else depart--to hell.
The words are by Charles Wesley. The tune is claimed by Ananias
Davisson in his _Kentucky Harmony_ (1815) whence it was borrowed by
practically all the subsequent book compilers in the South. The tune
was used for the secular ballad 'Lord Lovel'; see _White Spirituals_,
177. Also found KYH 33, GCM 36, SOH 31, UH 19, KNH 36, HH 224, SOC 55,
HOC 44, TZ 122, MOH 38, _Church Harmony_, p. 35, GOS 184, PB 246. An
imitation of this tune is GOS 325. 'Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor',
Davis, p. 570, shows the same trend, as does also 'Young Hunting',
Sharp, i., 112.
No. 138
BOZRAH, GOS 59