Waiting for Christ

Watchman, tell us of the night

No. 828
Metre 7s. D.
Tune WATCHMAN.
Words John Bowring.
Music Lowell Mason.
Key E-flat major
Singing key E♭ major
Time 3/4
3 stanzas

Words

Watchman, tell us of the night,What its signs of promise are,Traveler, o'er yon mountain's hightSee that glory beaming star!Watchman, does its beauteous rayAught of hope or joy foretell?Traveler, yes; it brings the day,Promised day of Israel.

Watchman, tell us of the night;Higher yet that star ascends.Traveler, blessedness and light,Peace and truth, its course portends!Watchman, will its beams aloneGild the spot that gave them birth?Traveler, ages are its own,See, it shines o'er all the earth!

Watchman, tell us of the night;For the morning seems to dawn.Traveler, darkness takes its flight;Doubt and terror are withdrawn.Watchman, let thy wondering cease;Hie thee to thy quiet home!Traveler, lo! the Prince of peace,Lo! the Son of God is come!

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «WAITING FOR CHRIST—CLOSING WORK.»; hymn number «828» (large), tune name «WATCHMAN. 7s. D.» centred over the music (condensed capitals; «s» and «D.» in small capitals), «LOWELL MASON.» at the right (capitals and small capitals). Stanza 1 is interlinear, in a bold condensed face. System 1, in braces with «1.» before them: «Watchman, tell us of the night, What its signs of prom - ise are,» (first time, first ending «1st.») and «Trav - eler, o'er you mountain's hight (omit) . . . . .» (second time: «(omit)» in italics, without a full stop, followed by five spaced dots = skip the first ending), continued right of the closing brace, under the second ending «2d.», by «See that glo - ry beam-ing star!» and, on the same line, «Watchman,». System 2, one line: «does its beauteous ray Aught of hope or joy fore-tell? Traveler, yes; it brings the day, Promised day of Is- ra - el.». Stanza 1 below is assembled in the order sung, the syllables joined into words; «Watchman», «mountain's», «beauteous», «Traveler» and «Promised» are printed whole under their two notes. The compositor set «the night», «Aught of», «beam-ing star» and «brings the day» without visible spaces — separate words. «glo - ry beam-ing» has no hyphen between «glory» and «beaming» (two words: «glory beaming»). Line 3 has no punctuation after «hight». The reference line «771, 901, 778.» in italic figures stands centred over stanza 2 (sing also to the tunes of hymns 771, 901 and 778). Stanzas 2–3 are printed as text in the left column below the music, numbered «2», «3» without a full stop (written «2.», «3.» here, as in the other deliveries of this book); the even lines are indented. «John Bowring.» in italics after stanza 3 (a handwritten «1825» and «Sir» with a caret beside it belong to the exemplar, not to the print). The print sets a thin space before «;», «!» and «?»; it is closed up here. Spelling («Traveler», «hight», «you» for the usual «yon»), punctuation and capitals are the print's.