John Newton

Hay-time

The grass, and flowers, which clothe the field,
And look so green and gay,
Touched by the scythe, defenceless yield,
And fall, and fade away.

Fit emblem of our mortal state!
Thus in the scripture glass,
The young, the strong, the wise, the great,
May see themselves but grass. (a)

Ah! trust not to your fleeting breath,
Nor call your time your own;
Around you see the scythe of death
Is mowing thousands down.

And you, who hitherto are spared,
Must shortly yield your lives;
Your wisdom is, to be prepared
Before the stroke arrives.

The grass, when dead, revives no more;
You die, to live again;
But oh! if death should prove the door
To everlasting pain.

Lord, help us to obey thy call,
That, from our sins set free,
When like the grass our bodies fall,
Our souls may spring to thee.