Willan, Healey: How they so softly rest


How they so softly rest (1917)

How they so softly rest,
All, all the holy dead,
Unto whose dwelling place
Now doth my soul draw near!

How they so softly rest!
All in their silent graves,
Deep to corruption
Slowly down sinking!

And they no longer weep,
Here, where complaint is still!
And they no longer feel,
Here, where all gladness flies!

And, by the cypresses
Softly o’ershadowed,
Until the Angel calls them,
How they so softly rest.

Words: From ‘The Dead’ by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82)
Music: Healey Willan (1880–1968)