- I Know That My Redeemer Lives
- I know that my Redeemer lives,
Triumphant Savior, Son of God,
Victorious over pain and death,
My King, my Leader, and my Lord.
He lives, my one sure rock of faith,
The one bright hope of men on earth,
The beacon to a better way,
The light beyond the veil of death.
Oh, give me thy sweet Spirit still,
The peace that comes alone from thee,
The faith to walk the lonely road
That leads to thine eternity.
--Gordon B. Hinckley
What could be a better way to end this week's tribute to President Hinckley, than to post his own testimony in verse? I don't think I had really looked at the structure of this poem before. I've sung it, of course (it's #135 in the hymn book), but I've never really looked at it.
The rhyme scheme is very loose -- the second and fourth lines of each verse theoretically rhyme -- but with pairs like God/Lord or earth/death it's more assonance than rhyme. He uses alliteration several times in the poem, and parallelism in his sentence structure. One thing I notice is that though it's obviously composed, it's also very natural sounding. He didn't feel the need to hit you over the head with a heavy rhythm or obvious rhymes. Thinking about it, that seems to fit his personality.
Thank you for your post. I am watching his funeral proceedings & when I searched for the lyrics, your blog was listed. What a powerful testimony from this amazing man.
ReplyDeleteThank you SO much for posting the lyrics! I, too, was searching for the lyrics and couldn't pull myself away to go grab a hymnal. I didn't even realize that it was a hymn until just now. I hope we sing it tomorrow! What an enduring legacy. God bless you!
ReplyDeleteLikewise I did a search while watching President Hinkleys funeral and hit your blog. Thank you for your posts and insight.
ReplyDeleteI also watched the funeral procession this morning, and while thinking back to it, wanted to read over this testimony he gave us.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting it!
We sang the other "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" in Sacrament Meeting yesterday. I had to wonder if somebody was going for this one and hit the wrong one, or if it was just a coincidence.
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