Hymn
A Funeral Thought
Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound!
My ears attend the cry:--
Ye living men! come view the ground
Where you must shortly lie.
Princes! this clay must be your bed,
In spite of all your towers;
The tall, the wise, the reverend head
Must lie as low as ours.
Great God! is this our certain doom?
And are we still secure?
Still walking downward to our tomb,
And yet prepare no more!
Grant us the powers of quickening grace
To fit our souls to fly;
Then, when we drop this dying flesh,
We'll rise above the sky.
A Funeral Thought — Text from The Voice of Praise, 1873. Public domain. https://yeshuanow.com/hymns/a-funeral-thought
Chord chart coming soon
Want to play this one? Leave your email and we'll let you know when the chords are ready.
Questions about this hymn
Who wrote A Funeral Thought?
The words of A Funeral Thought were written by Isaac Watts; the version here was published in 1873. The library holds 248 more hymns by Isaac Watts, including Persevering Grace and Advice to Youth.
Is A Funeral Thought public domain?
Yes. The words here are taken from The Voice of Praise, published in 1873. Works published before 1931 are out of copyright in the United States, so you can print, project, perform and record this hymn freely. How we source and check every hymn.
What is the metre of A Funeral Thought?
A Funeral Thought is in Common Metre (8.6.8.6). Hymns in the same metre can usually be sung to the same tunes — for example, I'm Not Ashamed to Own the Lord, Sovereign Purposes of God and Access to the Throne of Grace by a Mediator.