Old Melodies

How sweet are the tidings that greet the pilgrim's ear

No. 1169
Tune HE'S COMING.
Words Anon.
Music Arranged.
Key E-flat major
Singing key E♭ major
Time 4/4
4 stanzas

Words

How sweet are the tidings that greet the pilgrim's ear,As he wanders in exile from home!Soon, soon will the Saviour in glory appear,And soon will the kingdom come.

Chorus.

He's coming, coming, coming soon I know,Coming back to this earth again;And the weary pilgrims will to glory go,When the Saviour comes to reign.

The mossy old graves where the pilgrims sleepShall be open as wide as before,And the millions that sleep in the mighty deepShall live on this earth once more.

There we'll meet ne'er to part in our happy Eden home,Sweet songs of redemption we'll sing:From the North, from the South, all the ransomed shall come,And worship our heavenly King.

Hallelujah, Amen! Hallelujah again!Soon, if faithful, we all shall be there;O, be watchful, be hopeful, be joyful till then,And a crown of bright glory we'll wear.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «MISCELLANEOUS—OLD MELODIES.»; hymn number «1169» (large), tune name «HE'S COMING.» centred (condensed capitals and small capitals), «ARRANGED.» at the right; no metre and no reference line. Stanza 1 is interlinear: between the staves of system 1, in braces with «1.» before them, «How sweet are the tidings that greet the pilgrim's ear, As he wan-ders in exile from home!» (first time, first ending «1st.») and «Soon, soon will the Sav-iour in glo-ry ap - pear, (omit.) . . . . . . . .» (second time: «(omit.)» in italics = skip the first ending); its continuation «And soon will the king-dom come.» stands at the start of system 2 under the second ending «2d.», followed by «Chorus.» and «He's com-ing, coming, com-ing soon I know, Coming / back to this earth a - gain; And the weary pilgrims will to glory go, When the Saviour comes to reign.». Stanza 1 and the chorus are assembled below in the order sung; «wan-ders», «Sav-iour», «glo-ry», «ap - pear», «king-dom», «com-ing», «a - gain» are written as whole words. The chorus is printed once, with stanza 1. Stanzas 2–4 follow as text in two columns, then «Anon.» in italics. The stanza numbers 2–4 are printed without a full stop (numbered «2.»–«4.» here like stanza 1). The first line of stanzas 2, 3, 4 and line 3 of stanza 4 run over into an indented turnover («sleep», «Eden home,», «ransomed shall come,», «then,»): each joined into one verse line. Lines 2 and 4 of each stanza are indented in the print. The print sets a thin space before «!», «;» and «:» («home !», «a - gain ;», «sing :», «Amen !», «again !», «there ;»); it is closed up here, and apostrophes are written straight («pilgrim's», «He's», «we'll», «ne'er»). Spelling («Saviour»), punctuation and capitals are the print's.