The past is dark with sin and shame

Representative Text

The Past is dark with sin and shame,
The Future dim with doubt and fear;
But, Father, yet we praise Thy name,
Whose guardian love is always near.

For man has striven, ages long,
With faltering steps to come to Thee,
And in each purpose high and strong
The influence of Thy grace could see.

He could not breathe an earnest prayer,
But Thou wast kinder than he dreamed,
As age by age brought hopes more fair,
And nearer still Thy kingdom seemed.

But never rose within his breast
A trust so calm and deep as now;—
Shall not the weary find a rest?
Father, Preserver, answer Thou!

’Tis dark around, ’tis dark above,
But through the shadow streams the sun;
We cannot doubt Thy certain love;
And Man’s true aim shall yet be won!



Source: A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (15th ed.) #187

Author: Thomas W. Higginson

Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, M.A., was born at Cambridge, U.S.A., Dec. 22, 1823, and educated at Harvard. From 1847 to 1850 he was Pastor of an Unitarian Church at Newburyport, and from 1852 to 1858 at Worcester. In 1858 he retired from the Ministry, and devoted himself to literature. During the Rebellion he was colonel of the first negro regiment raised in South Carolina. In addition to being for some time a leading contributor to the Atlantic Monthly, he published Outdoor Papers, 1863; Malbone, 1869; and other works. During his residence at the Harvard Divinity School he contributed the following hymns to Longfellow and Johnson's Book of Hymns, 1846:— 1. No human eyes Thy face may see. God known through love. 2. The land our fathe… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: The past is dark with sin and shame
Author: Thomas W. Higginson
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

HAMBURG

Lowell Mason (PHH 96) composed HAMBURG (named after the German city) in 1824. The tune was published in the 1825 edition of Mason's Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music. Mason indicated that the tune was based on a chant in the first Gregorian tone. HAMBURG is a very simple tune with…

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WAREHAM (Knapp)

William Knapp (b. Wareham, Dorsetshire, England, 1698; d. Poole, Dorsetshire, 1768) composed WAREHAM, so named for his birthplace. A glover by trade, Knapp served as the parish clerk at St. James's Church in Poole (1729-1768) and was organist in both Wareham and Poole. Known in his time as the "coun…

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FEDERAL STREET

Henry Kemble Oliver (b. Beverly, MA, 1800; d. Salem, MA, 1885) composed FEDERAL STREET in 1832, possibly as an imitation of earlier psalm tunes in long meter. He took it to a music class taught by Lowell Mason (who may have contributed to the harmony); Mason (PHH 96) published it in his Boston Acade…

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 30 of 30)
Text

A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (15th ed.) #187

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A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion. (10th ed.) #187

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Church Harmonies #893

Hymn and Tune Book for the Church and the Home and Services for Congregational Worship. Rev. ed. #d688

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Hymn and Tune Book for the Church and the Home. (Rev. ed.) #483

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Hymn and Tune Book, for the Church and the Home #461

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Hymns for Christian Devotion #999

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Hymns for Christian Devotion #999

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Hymns for the Christian Church, for the Use of the First Church of Christ in Boston #235

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Hymns of the Church Universal #433

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Hymns of the Spirit for Use in the Free Churches of America #321a

Hymns of the Spirit for Use in the Free Churches of America #321b

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Hymns of the United Church #126

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Hymns of the United Church #126

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Isles of Shoals Hymn Book and Candle Light Service #108

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National Hymn and Tune Book #19

Prayers and Hymns for the Church and the Home #d655

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Sacred Songs For Public Worship #22

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Sacred Songs For Public Worship #22

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Services for Congregational Worship. The New Hymn and Tune Book #380

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Singers and Songs of the Liberal Faith #509

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Social Hymns of Brotherhood and Aspiration #27

The Chapel Service Book #d143

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The Gospel Psalmist #265

The Plymouth Hymnal #d515

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The Students' Hymnal #137

Unitarian Service Book, and Hymns for Church and Home. Abridged ed. #d417

University Hymn Book for use in the Chapel of Harvard University #d237

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