Where are the dead? In heaven or hell,
Their disembodied spirits dwell;
Their buried forms in bonds of clay,
Reserved until the judgment day.
Who were the dead? The sons of time
In every age, and state, and clime;
Renown'd, dishonour'd, or forgot,
The place that knew them, knows them not.
Where are the living? on the ground,
Where prayer is heard, and mercy found;
Where, in the period of a span,
The mortal makes the immortal man.
Who are the living? They whose breath
Draws every moment nigh to death;
Of bliss or woe the eternal heirs;
O what an awful choice is theirs!
Then timely warn'd, may we begin
To follow Christ, and flee from sin;
Daily grow up in Him our Head,
Lord of the living and the dead.
Source: Sacred Poems and Hymns #226
James Montgomery (b. Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, 1771; d. Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, 1854), the son of Moravian parents who died on a West Indies mission field while he was in boarding school, Montgomery inherited a strong religious bent, a passion for missions, and an independent mind. He was editor of the Sheffield Iris (1796-1827), a newspaper that sometimes espoused radical causes. Montgomery was imprisoned briefly when he printed a song that celebrated the fall of the Bastille and again when he described a riot in Sheffield that reflected unfavorably on a military commander. He also protested against slavery, the lot of boy chimney sweeps, and lotteries. Associated with Christians of various persuasions, Montgomery supported missio… Go to person page >
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