Sleep Not, Soldier

Representative Text

1. Sleep not, soldier of the cross;
Foes are lurking all around:
Look not here to find repose;
This is but thy battle ground.

2. Up, and take thy shield and sword;
Up, it is the call of heav'n;
Shrink not faithless from thy Lord,
Nobly strive as He hath striv'n.

3. Break thro' all the force of ill,
Treat the might of passion down,
Struggle onward, onward still,
To the conqu'ring Saviour's crown.

4. Thro' the midst of toil and pain,
Let this tho't ne'er leave thy breast,
Ev'ry triumph thou dost gain
Makes more sweet thy coming rest.

Source: Christ in Song: for all religious services nearly one thousand best gospel hymns, new and old with responsive scripture readings (Rev. and Enl.) #835

Author: William Gaskell

Gaskell, William, M.A., son of Mr. William Gaskell, was born at Latchford (a suburb of Warrington, on the Cheshire side of the Mersey), 24 July, 1805. He was educated at Manchester New College and at the University of Glasgow, where he graduated M.A. in 1825. In 1828 he became co-pastor with the Rev. J. G. Robberds at Cross Street Unitarian Chapel, Manchester, a position he held until his death. Mr. Gaskell was a man of cultivated mind and considerable literary ability. His publications include Lectures on the Lancashire Dialect, 1853, a small volume of Temperance Rhymes, 1839, and various theological works. In 1832 he married Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson, who afterwards attained celebrity as the authoress of Mary Barton, and of other popul… Go to person page >

Author: Elizabeth C. Gaskell

Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell: AKA Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson Born: 29-Sep-1810 Birthplace: London, England Died: 12-Nov-1865 Location of death: Alton, Hampshire, England Cause of death: Heart Failure Remains: Buried, Brook Street Unitarian Chapel, Knutsford, Cheshire, England Gender: Female Religion: Unitarian Race or Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: Author Nationality: England Executive summary: Cranford English novelist and biographer, born on the 29th of September 1810 in Lindsay Row, Chelsea, London, since destroyed to make way for Cheyne Walk. Her father, William Stevenson, came from Berwick-on-Tweed, and had been successively Unitarian minister, farmer, boarding-house keeper for students… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Sleep not, soldier of the cross
Title: Sleep Not, Soldier
Author: William Gaskell
Author: Elizabeth C. Gaskell
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

MONKLAND

The tune MONKLAND has a fascinating if complex history. Rooted in a tune for the text "Fahre fort" in Johann A. Freylinghausen's (PHH 34) famous hymnal, Geistreiches Gesangbuch (1704), it then was significantly altered by John Antes (b. Frederick, PA, 1740; d. Bristol, England, 1811) in a Moravian m…

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INNOCENTS (Parish Choir)


ROOT


Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #9038
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The Cyber Hymnal #9038

Include 43 pre-1979 instances
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