Within the Churchyard, Side by Side

Within the church­yard

side by side

Are ma­ny long low graves;

And some have stones set ov­er them

On some the green grass waves.

Full ma­ny a lit­tle Christ­ian child

Woman

and man

lies there;

And we pass near them ev­ery time

When we go in to pray­er.

They can­not hear our foot­steps come

They do not see us pass;

They can­not feel the warm bright sun

That shines up­on the grass.

They do not hear when the great bell

Is ring­ing ov­er­head;

They can­not rise and come to church

With us

for they are dead.

But we be­lieve a day shall come

When all the dead will rise

When they who sleep down in the grass

Will ope again their eyes.

For Christ our Lord was bur­ied once

He died and rose again

He con­quered death

He left the grave;

And so will Christ­ian men.

So when the friends we love the best

Lie in their church­yard bed

We must not cry too bit­ter­ly

Over the hap­py dead;

Because

for our dear Sav­ior’s sake

Our sins are all for­giv’n;

And Christ­ians on­ly fall asleep

To wake again in Heav’n.