This edition was prepared by Barry Johnston — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Benson
Staff Notation • Sacred
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2 editions of this piece
Different typesettings and voicings of the same work. This page shows the main edition; the others are below.
SATB · Barry Johnston
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Benson by Ebenezer Child — Lyrics
How short and hasty is our life!
How vast our souls' affairs!
Yet senseless mortals vainly strive
To lavish out their years.
Our days run thoughtlessly along,
Without a moment's stay;
Just like a story or a song
We pass our lives away.
God from on high invites us home,
But we march heedless on,
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About Benson
These words reflect on the brevity and vanity of human life, contrasting our short earthly existence with the eternal. The text expresses a deep regret for lost time and wasted opportunities, highlighting our heedless march towards death and the deserved punishment for neglecting heavenly joys. The plea for divine grace to draw the soul upwards offers a powerful message of redemption and the ultimate hope for salvation. This sacred anthem for SATB choir, set in English, captures the profound spiritual contemplation of mortality and the yearning for eternal peace.
