1797 - 1870 Person Name: Dale Author of "When the spark of life is waning" in Songs for the Service of Prayer Dale, Thomas, M.A., son of Thomas Dale, a bookseller in London, born at Pentonville, Aug. 22, 1797, and educated at Christ's Hospital, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, graduating B.A. 1822, M.A. 1825. On taking Holy Orders, he became, after holding several curacies, Vicar of St. Bride's, Fleet Street, London; Canon of St. Paul's, 1843; Vicar of St. Pancras, 1846; and Rector of Therfield, Herts, 1800. In 1870 he was nominated to the Deanery of Rochester, but died before induction, May 14, 1870. His poetical works are:—
(1) The Widow of Nain, 1819; (2) The Outlaw of Tauris, 1820; (3) Irad and Adah, a tale of the Flood; and Specimens of a New Translation of the Psalms, 1822. These Poems were collected and published in one vol. in 1836; 2nd ed. 1842.
From these works the following hymns have been taken:—
1. Dear as thou wert [wast], and justly dear (1819). Burial. In the Leeds Hymn Book, 1S53, and several American collections. It is from the Widow of Nain, and is given as a dirge sung at the funeral by the Village Minstrel.
2. 0 never, never can we know (1822). Good Friday. In the Baptist Psalms & Hymns, 1858-80.
3. Speak, 0 ye judges of the earth (1822). Ps. lviii. In the Mitre Hymn Book, 1836, &c.
4. The Lord Whose Name is love (1836). Children's Praises. In the Mitre Hymn Book, 1836.
5. When the spark of life is waning (1819). A Dying request. This is No. viii. of Poems, appended to The Widow of Nain, 1819, p. 69. In Stevenson's Hymns for Church & Home, 1873.
Other hymns of a similar character might be taken from these works with advantage. [William T. Brooke]
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
Thomas Dale
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