Charlie,

It was this verse which seems a bit "darker" to me, but on re-reading it is maybe not so dark and gloomy.

Hope, as an anchor so steadfast
Rends the dark veil for the soul
Whither the Master has entered
Robbing the grave of its goal
Come then, O come, glad fruition
Come to my sad, weary heart
Come, O Thou blest hope of glory
Never, O never depart.

The style of this verse seems different to me, but I am just going on gut-reaction so I'm open to discussion on it.

I am aware that the sheet music may not be the same as the original version. It's quite possible that the sheet music version was "prettied up" for general consumption. It's also possible that, being printed in Australia, it was re-worked for what the publishers may have thought the Oz public would want. In my mind, anything is possible while I don't have the full facts.

I don't have time to do any searching right now because I have "wasted" more time than I should this morning on the 'Net and I have work to do, but I'll check back here later and then see what I can find out.

Helen