Abide with Me
Abide with Me is a Christian hymn written by the Anglican clergyman Henry Francis Lyte in the last weeks of his life. Set to William Henry Monk's tune "Eventide", it is sung at funerals, remembrance services and, famously, before the FA Cup Final in England.
- Written by
- Henry Francis Lyte (died 1847)
- In the video
- The Choir of King's College, Cambridge
- Context
- Hymn by Henry Francis Lyte (1847), sung to William Henry Monk's tune "Eventide"
- Year
- 1847
- Language
- English
Abide with Me lyrics
Five of Lyte's eight stanzas, as printed in the 1920 hymnal (spacing and capitalisation as in the source).
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!
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!
A-men
The story behind Abide with Me
Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847) was a Scottish-born Anglican priest who served for many years as vicar of Lower Brixham in Devon. Suffering from tuberculosis, he wrote Abide with Me in 1847 shortly before leaving for the warmer climate of the south of France, where he died that November in Nice.
The poem's opening line echoes the plea of the disciples at Emmaus in Luke 24:29: "Abide with us: for it is toward evening." Lyte's original has eight stanzas; hymnals usually print five, as on this page.
In 1861 William Henry Monk wrote the tune "Eventide" for the hymn in Hymns Ancient and Modern, and the pairing became inseparable. The hymn has been sung before the FA Cup Final since 1927 and was performed at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
What Abide with Me means
The hymn uses the close of a day as a picture of the close of life. As evening falls and darkness deepens, the singer asks God to stay near when every other help has gone.
The second verse admits how quickly life ebbs away and how everything earthly changes and decays, setting this against the God "who changest not". The middle verses ask for that presence every hour, through cloud and sunshine, and face death without fear, borrowing Saint Paul's words: "Where is death's sting?"
The last verse turns to the moment of dying itself, asking to see the cross and to wake into heaven's morning. Its honesty about mortality is why it is so often chosen for funerals and remembrance.
Quick facts
- Written in 1847 by Henry Francis Lyte, vicar of Lower Brixham, Devon, who died later that year.
- The opening line echoes Luke 24:29, "Abide with us: for it is toward evening".
- Usually sung to "Eventide", composed by William Henry Monk in 1861.
- Sung before the FA Cup Final since 1927.