AND AM I ONLY BORN TO DIE Lyrics

And am I only born to die

And must I suddenly comply

With nature's stern decree

How then ought I on earth to live

While God prolongs the kind reprieve

What after death for me remains

Celestial joys, or hellish pains

To all eternity

And props the house of clay

My sole concern, my single care

To watch, and tremble, and prepare

Against the fatal day

No room for mirth or trifling here

For worldly hope, or worldly fear

If life so soon is gone

If now the Judge is at the door

Nothing is worth a thought beneath

But how I may escape the death

That never, never dies

How make mine own election sure

And, when I fail on earth, secure

A mansion in the skies

And all mankind must stand before

The inexorable throne

No matter which my thoughts employ

A moment's misery, or joy

But O! when both shall end

Where shall I find my destined place

Shall I my everlasting days

With fiends, or angels spend

Jesus, vouchsafe a pitying ray

Be Thou my guide, be Thou my way

To glorious happiness

To happiness

Ah, write the pardon on my heart

And whensoe'er I hence depart

Let me depart, depart in peace.