The Christian — Hymns for Social Worship

We speak of the realms of the blest

No. 505
Metre 8s. D.
Tune CONTRAST.
Words Elizabeth Mills.
Music Lewis Edson.
Key G major
Singing key F major
Time 6/8
4 stanzas

Words

We speak of the realms of the blest,That country so bright and so fair,And oft are its glories confessed,—But what must it be to be there!We speak of its pathway of gold,—Its walls decked with jewels so rare,Its wonders and pleasures untold,—But what must it be to be there!

We speak of its freedom from sin,From sorrow, temptation and care,From trials without and within,—But what must it be to be there!We speak of its service of love,Of the robes which the glorified wear,Of the church of the first-born above,—But what must it be to be there!

Our mourning is all at an end,When, raised by the life-giving word,We see the new city deseend,Adorned as a bride for her Lord:The city so holy and clean,No sorrow can breathe in the air;No gloom of affliction or sin,No shadow of evil is there.

Do Thou, midst temptation and woe,For heaven my spirit prepare;And shortly I also shall knowAnd feel what it is to be there.Then o'er the bright fields we shall roam,In glory celestial and fair,With saints and with angels at home,And Jesus himself will be there.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «THE CHRISTIAN—HYMNS FOR SOCIAL WORSHIP.»; hymn number «505» (large), tune name «CONTRAST. 8s. D.» centred over the music (condensed capitals; the «D.» in a smaller size), «LEWIS EDSON.» at the right (capitals and small capitals). Stanza 1 is interlinear, one line per system, with «1.» before «We»: system 1 = verse lines 1–2, system 2 = verse lines 3–4, system 3 = verse lines 5–6; verse lines 7–8 are printed in italics as a second line under system 2, preceded by «D. S.—», and are sung there after the «D. S.» at the end of system 3 (the music returns to the segno over «And» and ends at «Fine.» after «there!»). Stanza 1 below is assembled in the order sung. «confessed», «pleasures» and «pathway» are set unbroken under the staves; «coun - try», «jew - els», «un - told» with spaced hyphens. No reference line is printed for this hymn. Stanzas 2–4 follow as text in the left column, numbered «2», «3», «4» without a full stop (numbered «2.» etc. here like stanza 1), with «Elizabeth Mills.» in italics after stanza 4. Lines 2, 4, 6, 8 of each stanza are indented in the print. The print sets a thin space before «;», «:» and «!» («Lord :», «air ;», «prepare ;», «there !»); it is closed up here. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's, including «But what must is be to be there!» (stanza 2, line 4) and «deseend» (stanza 3, line 3), both kept as printed (see `uncertainties.md`).