The author of this hymn is not revealed in any collections where I viewed it. It appears unattributed under the heading "Funeral" in eight four-line stanzas in A Collection of Anthems, Psalms and Hymns, sung at the Holy Trinity Church, Kingston-upon-Hull, Hull, Eng: W. Rawson, 1803. It appears in several Sunday School hymn books with the heading "Death of a Teacher." It can be adjusted to apply to a sister, and has been printed that way in a few hymn books.
Farewell! dear friend! a long farewell;
For we shall meet no more,
Till we are raised with thee to dwell
On Zion's happier shore.
Our Friend and brother, lo! is dead;
The cold and lifeless clay
Has made in dust its silent bed,
And there it must decay.
But is he dead? no, no, he lives!
His nobler spirit flies
To Heaven above and there receives
The long expected prize.
Then let us dry our mournful tears,
From gloomy grief refrain;
In heaven our brother now appears,
And shall forever reign.
A little while and we shall go
To yonder happy skies,
And join our friend we lov'd below,
In everlasting joys.
This can be sung to any common meter tune. The Boston Sunday School Hymn Book recommends the tunes "Stevens" and "Windsor" for this hymn.
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