Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O, abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around I see –
you never change, O Lord, abide with me.

Hold now your cross before my closing eyes;
shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Original Words: H.F.Lyte
Original Tune: W.H.Monk
Arrangement: Berj Topalian

Henry Lyte wrote the words a few hours after conducting the final service at his church and created for the hymn what his biographer has disparaged as “a dull tune.” When Hymns Ancient and Modern was published in 1861, the editor, William H. Monk—whose three-year-old daughter had just died—composed his own tune, “Eventide,” for Lyte’s poem. The hymn became a favourite of George V and George VI and was sung at the former’s funeral. The hymn also inspired Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener and General Charles “Chinese” Gordon, and it was said to have been on the lips of Edith Cavell as she faced a German firing squad. “Abide with Me” has been sung at the FA Cup finals since 1927