"Wells" (ca. 1724)
Words by Isaac Watts, 1674-1748
Music by Israel Holdroyd

1.
Life is the time to serve the Lord,
The time t'insure the great reward;
And while the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return.

2.
Life is the hour which God has giv'n
To 'scape from hell, and fly to heav'n;
The day of grace, when mortals may
Secure the blessings of the day.

3.
The living know that they must die,
But all the dead forgotten lie;
Their mem'ry and their sense are gone,
Alike unknowing and unknown.

4.
Their hatred and their love are lost,
Their envy bury'd in the dust;
They have no share in all that's done
Beneath the circuit of the sun.

5.
Then what my thoughts design to do,
My hands, with all your might pursue;
Since no device, nor work is found,
Nor faith, nor hope, beneath the ground.

6.
There are no acts of pardon past
In the cold grave, to which we haste;
But darkness, death, and long despair
Reign in eternal silence there.