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New Year's Day

Representative Text

1. While with ceaseless course the sun
Hasted thru' the former year,
Many souls their race have run,
Never more to meet us here:
Fixed in an eternal state,
They have done with all below;
We a little longer wait,
But how little, none can know.

2. As the winged arrow flies
Speedily the mark to find,
As the ligh'tning from the skies
Darts and leaves no trace behind;
Swiftly thus our fleeting days
Bear us down life’s rapid stream;
Upward, Lord, our spirits raise;
All below is but a dream.

3. Thanks for mercies past receive;
Pardon of our sins renew;
Teach us henceforth how to live,
With eternity in view.
Bless thy word to young and old,
Fill us with a Savior's love;
And when life’s short tale is told,
May we dwell with thee above.

Source: Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship #31

Author: John Newton

John Newton (b. London, England, 1725; d. London, 1807) was born into a Christian home, but his godly mother died when he was seven, and he joined his father at sea when he was eleven. His licentious and tumul­tuous sailing life included a flogging for attempted desertion from the Royal Navy and captivity by a slave trader in West Africa. After his escape he himself became the captain of a slave ship. Several factors contributed to Newton's conversion: a near-drowning in 1748, the piety of his friend Mary Catlett, (whom he married in 1750), and his reading of Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ. In 1754 he gave up the slave trade and, in association with William Wilberforce, eventually became an ardent abolitionist. After becoming a tide… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: While, with ceaseless course, the sun
Title: New Year's Day
Author: John Newton (1774)
Meter: 7.7.7.7 D
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

While with ceaseless course the sun. J. Newton. [New Year.] Published in his Twenty Six Letters on Religious Subjects, &c, by Omicron, 1774, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines, and headed, "For the New Year." It was repeated in R. Conyer's Psalms & Hymns the same year, and again in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Bk. ii., No. 1. It is in extensive use in Great Britain and America. In some collections stanzas ii., iii. are given as, "As the winged arrow flies," but this is not so popular as the full text.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Notes

While with ceaseless course the sun. J. Newton. [New Year.] Published in his Twenty Six Letters on Religious Subjects, &c, by Omicron, 1774, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines, and headed, "For the New Year." It was repeated in R. Conyer's Psalms & Hymns the same year, and again in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Bk. ii., No. 1. It is in extensive use in Great Britain and America. In some collections stanzas ii., iii. are given as, "As the winged arrow flies," but this is not so popular as the full text.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Timeline

Instances

Instances (201 - 300 of 588)
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Hymns for Sunday Schools #249

Hymns for Sunday Schools, Selected from Various Authoors #d251

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Hymns for Sunday Schools, Youth and Children #487

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Hymns for Sunday Schools, Youth, and Children #487

Hymns for Sunday Schools. 2nd ed. #d69

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Hymns for the Christian Church, for the Use of the First Church of Christ in Boston #430

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Hymns for the Church #396

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Hymns for the Church of Christ (3rd thousand) #832

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Hymns for the Church of Christ. (6th thousand) #832

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Hymns for the Living Age #104

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Hymns for the Sanctuary #591

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Hymns for the Use of Children #XI

Hymns for the Use of the Brethren in Christ #d564

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Hymns for the use of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, by the Authority of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania #138

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Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. ed. #1052

Hymns for the Vestry and the Fireside #d362

Hymns for Use in Divine Worship ... Seventh-Day Adventists #d1313

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Hymns for Youth, Suitable to be Used in Sabbath and Parochial Schools #373

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Hymns of Praise and Patriotism #28

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Hymns of the "Jubilee Harp" #a488

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Hymns of the Ages #211

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Hymns of the Ages #211

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Hymns of the Centuries (Chapel Edition) #290

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Hymns of the Church Universal #613

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Hymns of the Church #554

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Hymns of the Faith with Psalms #454

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Hymns of the Faith #600

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Hymns of the Kingdom of God #411

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Hymns of the Kingdom of God #411

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Hymns of the Kingdom of God #453

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Hymns of the United Church #449

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Hymns of the United Church #449

Hymns of The Voice of Praise #d302

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Hymns of Worship and Service #444

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Hymns of Worship and Service (15th ed.) #444

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Hymns of Worship and Service (Chapel Ed., 4th ed.) #359

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Hymns of Worship and Service #444

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Hymns of Worship and Service #369

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Hymns of Worship and Service. (Chapel ed.) #359

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Hymns of Worship #559

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Hymns Recommended for use in the Reformed Episcopal Church #101

Hymns, Collects, Anthems and Selections #d287

Hymns, Selected and Original, for Sunday Schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church #d519

Hymns, Selected from Various Authors, for the Use of Young Persons 3rd Am. from 9th London ed. #d276

Hymns, Selected from Various Authors, for the Use of the Unitarian Church in Washington #d176

Hymns, Selected from Various Authors, for the Use of Young Persons #d254

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Hymns #932

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Hymns #932

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Hymns #896

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Hymns #932

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Immanuel Hymnal #433

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In Excelsis #736

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In Excelsis #a736

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Laudamus #341

Laudent Omnes #d204

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Laudes Domini #598

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Laudes Domini #1149

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Laudes Domini #350

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Laudes Domini #573

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Luther League Hymnal #133

Manly's Choice #d249

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Manual of Christian Psalmody #687

Manual of Devotion and Selection of Hymns for ... Girard College for Orphans #d217

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Many Voices; or, Carmina Sanctorum, Evangelistic Edition with Tunes #529

Massachusetts Sabbath School Hymn Book #d211

Melodies of the Church #d1123

Methodist Hymn and Tune Book #d870

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Methodist Hymn and Tune Book #270

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Methodist Hymn-Book #893

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Mission Songs #176

My Little Singing Book #d73

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New Hymn and Tune book #345d

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New Hymn and Tune Book #345d

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New Manual of Praise #582

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New Select Hymns #229

New Standard Singer #d251

New Standard Singer, Pt. 1-7 #d255

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New Union Hymns #418

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Offices of Worship and Hymns #298

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Offices of Worship and Hymns #1073

Oriola #d296

Oriola #d300

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Our Glad Hosanna #317

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Our New Hymnal #456

Our Service of Song #d292

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Parish Hymns #488

Parish Psalmody #d952

Parish Psalmody #d969

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Pilgrim Songs #166

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Plymouth Collection #a455

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Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes; for the use of Christian Congregations #455

Portsmouth Sunday School Hymn Book #d201

Prayers and Hymns for the Church and the Home #d808

Prayers for the Use of Families with a Selection of Hymns #d157

Prison Hymn Book #d403

Psalms and Hymns Adapted to Social, Private and Public Worship in the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. #d947

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Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs #1277

Psalms and Hymns for the Worship of God #d923

Pages

Exclude 585 pre-1979 instances
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