He who God’s pure law fulfilled;
Jesus, the incarnate Word;
He whose truth with blood was sealed;
He is heaven’s all-glorious Lord.”
The melodic sentence at the beginning and at the end is a favorite. It may be found, for example, also in ‘Greenwood Siding’, Cox, p. 522. A variant of the tune is ‘When I First Left Old Ireland’, Petrie, No. 863. See ‘[I Will Arise]’ in this collection for further tune relationships.
No. 139
[NEW ORLEANS], PB 255
Heptatonic aeolian, mode 2 A + b (I II 3 IV V 6 7)
Why do we mourn departing friends
Or shake at death’s alarms?