O solemn hour, so strange and still

O solemn hour, so strange and still. John Henry Lester* (ca. 1845-ca. 1904). First published in the Lichfield Church Mission Hymn Book (1883). The date of composition is not known. It was subsequently printed in the Mirfield Mission Hymn Book* (1907), where the four stanzas were separated into two parts, the second ‘To be sung kneeling’: O solemn hour, so strange and still,   When all goes cold in death! When I must bid a last farewell   To all I’ve loved on earth. And shall I pass away alone   Into Eternity? O God, what voice will meet me there?   What hand be laid on me? If I have lived a wasted life,   Or missed its purpose high, Or been unreal in my faith,   How can I – dare I – die?...