Waiting for Christ

Behold th' expected time draw near

No. 790
Metre L. M.
Tune HARMONY CHANT.
Words Mrs. Voke.
Music William B. Bradbury.
Key A-flat major
Singing key A♭ major
Time 2/4
2 stanzas

Words

Behold th' expected time draw near,The shades disperse, the dawn appear!Behold the wilderness assumeThe beauteous tints of Eden's bloom!

Events with prophecies conspireTo raise our faith, our zeal to fire;The ripening fields, already white,Present a harvest to the sight.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «WAITING FOR CHRIST—CLOSING WORK.»; hymn number «790» (large), tune name «HARMONY CHANT. L. M.» centred over the music (condensed capitals and small capitals), «WILLIAM B. BRADBURY.» at the right (capitals and small capitals). Stanza 1 is interlinear, between the staves, one line per system, with «1.» before «Be»: «1. Be - hold th' expect - ed time draw near, The shades disperse, the dawn ap - pear ! Be - hold the wil - der-» / «ness as - sume The beauteous tints of Eden's bloom, The beauteous tints of E - den's bloom !». The music sings the fourth line twice, printed out in full under the staves (first «bloom,», then «bloom!») — stanza 1 below gives the four verse lines once, as a poem, with the final reading «bloom!» (see `lyrics_syllables.txt` for the lines exactly as printed). Under the staves «expect», «disperse», «beauteous» (twice) and the first «Eden's» are printed whole under two notes; «th' expect» is crowded under the second and third eighths of the first full bar (the verse has eight syllables only with «th' ex-» sung on one note). Stanza 2 is printed as text in the left column below the music, numbered «2» without a period (written «2.» here, as in the other deliveries of this book), all four lines flush left, followed by «Mrs. Voke.» in italics. No reference line (the tune is printed with the hymn). The print sets a thin space before «!» and «;» («ap - pear !», «bloom !», «fire ;»); it is closed up here. The apostrophes («th'», «Eden's») are written straight. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's.