Oh, Lovely Appearance of Death
(George Whitefield)

Oh, lovely appearance of death,
What sight upon earth is so fair?
Not all the gay pageants that breathe
Can with a dead body compare.
In solemn delight I survey
A corpse when the spirit is fled
In love with the beautiful clay,
And longing to lie in its stead.

Its languishing pain is at rest,
Its aching and aching are o'er;
The quiet immovable breast
Is pained by affliction no more.
The heart it no longer receives
Of trouble and torturing pain;
It ceases to flutter and beat,
It never shall flutter again.

From Our Singing Country, Lomax
Note: Written ten years before the Reverend George Whitfield's death, to be sung
at his own funeral.
Recorded by Hally Wood
RG