“ABIDE WITH ME.”

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLV, Issue 285, 5 November 1925, Page 4

“ABIDE WITH ME.”

STORY OF FAVOURITE HYMN. PRAYER THAT WAS ANSWERED. LONDON, Sept. 17. During the past week there has been a good deal of correspondence concerning the well-known hymn, “Abide M ith Me,” which is played and sung at the close of the military tattoo at the Empire Exhibition. Discussion has centred around the meaning of the line, “Fast falls tile eventide,” some people maintaining that it was suggested by the outgoing tide in Torbay, where the writer ol the hymn resided. Mr Maxwcll-Lytc, one of the few living descendants of the author of the hymn, has written to the Times, and his description of the, circumstances in which the hymn was written seems to prove that the word “eventide” referred to the time of the day and not to the ebbing tide. “My great-grandfather, the Rev. Henry Francis Lyte,” says the writer, “was vicar of Lower Brixham, in those days a picturesque little fishing village on the shores of Torbay. He was tlie author of numerous poems and hymns, some of which are in ‘Hymns Ancient and Modern.’ During the latter part of his life ho devoted himself to the service of the humble fisher-folk of Brixham, among whom were many of his best friends. His labours undermined his health, but he persisted in his noble work until his health broke down completely under the strain, and his doctor told him he must go abroad at once. He was then dying of consumption. He preached his farewell sermon the following Sundavevening in Lower Brixham Church, and after the service walked slowly home to his house at Berry Head. “It happened that on that night was one, of Those glorious sunsets which are sometimes to be seen at Torba.v. The sun was setting in a blaze of glory, and the purple hills of distant Dartmoor stood out darkly against the flaming sky. In the foreground was Brixham Harbour, like a pool of molten gold. Several times on the way home the poet stopped to rest, and to gaze on this wonderful manifestation of Nature. Wo can well imagine his feelings. He had just said ‘Good-bye’ for the last time to his parishioners, and ho know that he had only a few weeks at most to live. The setting day reminded him insistently of his life, which was drawing swiftly to its close. “It was during this walk that he prayed that before he died he might bo allowed to write one message of consolation to humanity, which would endure for eve: - . On arriving home he went to his study and there and then wrote the immortal hymn which has enriched our language and brought comfort and consolation to millions. His prayer was, indeed, answered. No one who knows the circumstances under which the hymn was written can sing it without feeling some of the emotion which inspired the poet as he wrote about the. eventide oi his own life. The final verse, which is, perhaps, the finest and most beautiful of all, represents the triumph of faith and hope over despair.”