ABIDE with me! Fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens: Lord, with me abide! When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me! Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; Earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away: Change and decay in all around I see; O thou, who changest not, abide with me! Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word, But as thou dwelt with thy disciples, Lord, Familiar, condescending, patient, free, -- Come, not to sojourn, but abide, with me! Come not in terrors, as the King of kings; But kind and good, with healing in thy wings: Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea; Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me! Thou on my head in early youth didst smile, And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile, Thou hast not left me, oft as I left thee: On to the close, O Lord, abide with me! I need thy presence every passing hour. What but thy grace can foil the Tempter's power? Who like thyself my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, o abide with me! I fear no foe with thee at hand to bless: Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness. Where is death's sting, where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if thou abide with me. Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes; Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies: Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee: In life and death, O Lord, abide with me! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WASHINGTON MONUMENT BY NIGHT by CARL SANDBURG THE BATTLE AUTUMN OF 1862 by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER |