Poems (Hoffman)/We Shall Sleep but We Shall Waken

by Martha Lavinia Hoffman

WE SHALL SLEEP BUT WE SHALL WAKEN

We shall sleep but we shall waken
In the morning bright and fair,
We, by sudden night o'ertaken
In a land of dark despair;
Whatsoever may befall us
Though our rest be long and deep,
Jesus in the morn will call us
Call us from our silent sleep.

We shall sleep but we shall waken
Though the night be cold and drear,
Not forgotten, not forsaken,
With a dear Friend watching near;
Long may be the night of sadness
Yet that Friend, His watch shall keep
"Till the glorious morn of gladness
When He wakes us from our sleep.

We shall sleep, but we shall waken
At the sound of that dear voice
At whose murmur thrones have shaken,
At whose whisper saints rejoice;
O'er our newly wakened vision
Floods of holy light shall sweep
From that morning-dawn Elysian
When He wakes us from our sleep.

We shall sleep but we shall waken,
Jesus slept, and woke before;
We shall sleep and we shall waken
When our silent sleep is o'er;
On the stillness of our slumbers
Shall break forth that music deep
From glad hosts in countless numbers
When He wakes us from our sleep.

We shall sleep but we shall waken,
We shall meet with friends long dead,
Those who from our sight were taken
To a cold and narrow bed;
From the loftiest tomb's dark prison,
From the lowliest grass-grown heap,
We shall rise as Christ has risen
When he wakes us from our sleep.

We shall sleep but we shall waken
In the resurrection morn,
We, by sudden night o'ertaken,
Wanderers lost amid the storm;
Whatsoever may befall us,
Though our rest be long and deep,
Jesus in the morn will call us,
Call us from our silent sleep.