In the evening I will sing His glory;

When the daily task is done,

And the disappearing sun

Signs, and seals in gold, the past day’s story.

/

I will sing His glory from the shadows;

Earth grows old, and disappears,

Weary, scarred, and bathed in tears;

Even pain and toil, His glory hallows.

/

Still my soul will sing, while life lies sleeping;

Resting in…

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Following is a modified version of the poem. It calls for slow, deep reading. I aimed for improvement in flow of time, rhyme, and meaning.

Thank you, Michelle.

You raise some good questions. As I said, I wrote this years ago; I think my thought at that time was progression, night getting darker, until the eventual morning when we will bear His likeness. However, I think it might have been one of those poems where the “poem” was basically the first stanza, and everything thereafter…

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An old piece of mine. Hymn material? Thoughts or input welcome, as well as music suggestions.

In the evening I will sing His glory;

When the daily task is done,

And the disappearing sun

Signs, and seals in gold, the past days story.

/

I will sing His glory, from the shadows;

As the world sinks into night,

All is dark, but He is light;

In His glory, even pain is hallowed.

/

I will sing His glory in the twilight,

Earth grows old…

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I am not familiar with the tune that you refer to, so I most likely cannot accurately critique your poem. But as I read it, I have a few thoughts I will pass on.

The meter… A theme has to be very clearly and compellingly developed to really hold the attention of most hymn singers through 14 syllables in a single line. Even pentameter, which…

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That said, I also wanted to say that I appreciate this poem for its brevity and clarity. Cluttered, redundant, wordy verse is hard to sing; also big, difficult words don’t work well for singing.

Suggestion on this line: Let me count earth’s gain only vanity; Change to: Let me count earth’s glory but vanity;

Thank you both Lynn and Rachel for your thoughts.

Input welcome, critiques on the poem or suggestions for appropriate music.

May all my life be less, and Christ be more!

May need and duty, plan and paradigm…

The urgencies that fill my race with time…

Oh, may they all be less, and Christ be more!

May other good be less, and Christ be more!

The selfless service, and the ministry,

The wages of obedience… let them be

Lost in the light of Him… whom I adore!

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Our church choir has been singing this piece. We have connected well with it. Beautiful.

A few typos… “I see Him hand…” “anguised” “finised”.

Thanks,

James