Old Melodies

I saw a way-worn traveler

No. 1145
Tune DELIVERANCE WILL COME.
Words John B. Matthias.
Music John. B. Matthias.
Key F major
Time 2/4
7 stanzas

Words

I saw a way-worn traveler,In tattered garments clad,And struggling up the mountain;It seemed that he was sad;His back was laden heavy,His strength was almost gone,He shouted as he journeyed,Deliverance will come.

Chorus.

Then palms of victory, crowns of glory,Palms of victory we shall bear.

The summer sun was shining,The sweat was on his brow,His garments worn and dusty,His step seemed very slow:But he kept pressing onward,For he was wending home;Still shouting as he journeyed,Deliverance will come.

The songsters in the arborThat stood beside the wayAttracted his attention,Inviting his delay;His watchword being "Onward!"He stopped his ears, and ran,Still shouting as he journeyed,Deliverance will come.

I saw him in the evening,The sun was bending low;He 'd overtopped the mountain,And reached the vale below;His eyes were dim and heavy,His journey, it was done;He shouted, as it ended,Deliverance will come!

They closed the blinds around him,And locked him up alone,That nothing might disturb himTill his best Friend should come.Hope made for him a pillow,And faith, a garment rare,To keep him in his slumbersTill Jesus should appear.

At length the trumpet sounded,The shadows fled away,The gilded rays of gloryProclaimed the coming day;Then when the light of morningBroke in his little room,He rose, and cried, Hosanna!Deliverance has come!

I heard the song of triumphHe sang upon that shore,Saying, Jesus has redeemed me,I'll suffer now no more;And casting his eyes backwardOn the race that he had run,He raised the loud hosanna,Deliverance has come!

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «MISCELLANEOUS—OLD MELODIES.»; hymn number «1145» (large, left), tune name «DELIVERANCE WILL COME.» centred over the music (condensed capitals and small capitals), «JOHN. B. MATTHIAS.» at the right (capitals and small capitals; the mark after «JOHN» is a full stop in the print); no meter and no reference line are printed. Stanza 1 is interlinear, between the staves, as two lines in braces with «1.» before them — «I saw a way-worn traveler, In tattered garments clad, And struggling up the mountain; It / seemed that he was sad;» (first time) and «His back was la-den heav-y, His strength was almost gone, He shouted as he journeyed, De- / liv - erance will come.» (second time, after the :‖:) — then «Chorus.» over the second system with one line, «Then palms of victory, crowns of glo-ry, Palms of victory we shall bear.», between the heights of the two (the chorus is closed by an end-repeat: sung twice). Stanza 1 below is assembled in the order sung, as eight verse lines, the syllables joined into words. The chorus is printed once, with stanza 1; it follows every stanza by custom (the print gives no instruction). Stanzas 2–7 follow as text in two columns (2–4 left, 5–7 right), numbered «2»–«7» without a full stop (numbered «2.»–«7.» here like stanza 1); lines 2, 4, 6 and 8 of every stanza are indented in the print. «John B. Matthias.» in italics after stanza 7 (here without the stop after «John» that the header has). «He 'd» (stanza 4) is set with a space before the apostrophe and is kept so; «I'll» (stanza 7) is set tight (a hair space at most). The print sets a thin space before «;», «:» and «!» («mountain ;», «sad ;», «slow :», «come !»); it is closed up here; curly quotes are written straight. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's («traveler», «Friend», «Hosanna!»). A handwritten note of the exemplar in the top margin is not print and is not transcribed.