200. Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings
Robert Seagrave, 1693-c. 1759
This hymn, entitled “The Pilgrim’s Song,” first appeared in Hymns for Christian Worship, by Robert Seagrave, London, 1742.
Robert Seagrave, son of Rev. Robert Seagrave, was educated at Cambridge and was ordained a clergyman in the Church of England. He became interested in the Wesleys and Whitefield and published pamphlets and sermons designed to reform the clergy and Church of England. He wrote 50 original hymns, of which this one is still in use. The exact year of Seagrave’s death is not certain.
MUSIC. AMSTERDAM is attributed to James Nares, 1715-1783, but most authorities believe the tune to be much older. It appears in what is known as the Foundery Collection, the first Methodist hymnal, by John Wesley, 1742, and is said to be one of the German chorale tunes which John Wesley acquired from the Moravian Brethren.