Here is a song, which doth belong

General information

The fifth stanza of "Here is a song, which doth belong" first appears in The Waterhouse Manuscript (copied 1780), as text for William Billings' Psalm-tune Hatfield, with one stanza in Common Meter (86. 86.). (Hatfield appears in the posthumous Psalm-Singer's Amusement of 1804, considerably revised by William Billings around 1790, and with different words.

This hymn was the underlay of the tune 'West-Sudbury' by William Billings in 1794; Billings attributes the text to "Mr. John Peck", and gives one verse in Double Common Meter (86. 86. D.). Elisha West of Woodstock, Vermont similarly set the hymn to a Double Common Meter tune ('Solemn Song') in his collection The Musical Concert (Northampton: 1802).

A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors, compiled by Paul Himes and Jonathan Wilson (Greenfield, MA: published by Clark & Hunt, 1818) gives seven Common Metre verses of the text, as Hymn 123.

Settings by composers (automated)

William Billings — Hatfield English STB
William Billings — West-Sudbury English SATB
William Walker — An Address for All English SATB
Elisha West — Solemn Song English SATB

Text and translations

English text

1. Here is a song, which doth belong,
To all the human race,
Concerning death, who steals the breath,
And blasts the comely face.

2. Come listen all unto the call,
Which I do make to day,
For you must die, as well as I,
And pass from hence away.
In William Billings, 1794

5. Though beauty grace the comely face,
With rosy white and red,
A dying fall will spoil it all,
For Absalom is dead.
In The Waterhouse Manuscript, 1780

Address to all
1. I sing a song which doth belong,
To all the human race,
Concerning death, which steals the breath,
And blasts the comely face.

2. Come listen all unto my call,
Which I do make to day,
For you must die as well as I,
And pass from hence away.

3. No human power can stop the hour,
Wherein a mortal dies;
A Caesar may be great to day,
Yet death may close his eyes.

4. Though some do strive and do arrive
To riches and renown;
Enjoying health, and swim in wealth,
Yet death will bring them down:

5. Though beauty grace your comely face,
With roses white and red,
A dying fall will spoil it all,
For Absalom is dead.

6. Though you require the best attire,
Appearing fine and fair,
Yet death will come into the room,
And strip you of them there.

7. For princes high and beggars die,
And mingle with the dust;
The rich, the brave, the poorest slave,
The wicked and the just.

Smith and Jones, Hymns Original and Selected, Fifth Ed., 1812

Address to all
I sing a song which doth belong
To all the human race,
Concerning death, which steals the breath,
And blasts the comely face.

Come, listen all unto the call,
Which I do make today,
For you must die as well as I,
And pass from hence away.

No human power can stop the hour
Wherein a mortal dies;
A Caesar may be great to-day,
Yet death may close his eyes.

Though some do strive and do arrive
To riches and renown,
Enjoying health, and swim in wealth,
Yet death will bring them down.

Though beauty grace your comely face,
With roses white and red,
A dying fall will spoil it all,
For Absalom is dead.

Though you require the best attire,
Appearing fine and fair,
Yet death will come into the room,
And strip you of them there.

For princes high and beggars die,
And mingle with the dust;
The rich, the brave, the poorest slave,
The wicked and the just.

Himes & Wilson, A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors, 1818

An Address to All
1. I sing a song which doth belong
To all the human race,
Concerning death, which steals the breath,
And blasts the comely face;

Come listen all unto my call
Which I do make today,
For you must die as well as I,
And pass from hence away.

2. No human power can stop the hour
Wherein a mortal dies;
A Caesar may be great today,
Yet death will close his eyes:

Though some do strive and do arrive
To riches and renown.
Enjoying health and swim in wealth,
Yet death will bring them down.

3. Though beauty grace your comely face
With roses white and red,
A dying fall will spoil it all,
For Absalom is dead;

Though you acquire the best attire,
Appearing fine and fair,
Yet death will come into the room,
And strip you naked there.

4. The princes high and beggars die,
And mingle with the dust.
The rich, the brave, the Negro slave,
The wicked and the just;

Therefore prepare to meet thy God,
Before it be too late.
Or else you'll weep, lament and cry,
Lost in a ruined state.

William Walker, Southern and Western Pocket Harmonist, 1846

Reference

Himes, Paul, and Jonathan Wilson. 1818. A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors. Greenfield, Massachusetts: Clark & Hunt. 360 pp.
Smith, Elias, and Abner Jones. 1812. Hymns Original and Selected For the Use of Christians, Fifth Edition, Corrected. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Herald Office. 360 pp.

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