Bible Songs — Missionary Songs

Are you Christ's light-bearer?

No. 1244
Tune IS YOUR LAMP BURNING?
Words Priscilla J. Owens.
Music I. Baltzell.
Key C major
Singing key B♭ major
Time 4/4
3 stanzas

Words

Are you Christ's light-bearer?Of his joy a sharer?Is this dark world fairerFor your cheering ray?Is your beacon lighted,Guiding souls benightedTo the land of perfect day?

Chorus.

O brother! is your lamp trimmed and burning?Is the world made brighter by its cheering ray?Are you waiting, yearningFor your Lord's returning?Are you watching day by day?

Is your heart warm, glowing,With his love o'erflowing,And his goodness showingMore and more each day?Are you pressing onwardWith his faithful vanguard,In the safe and narrow way?

Keep your altars burning,Wait your Lord's returning,While your heart's deep yearningDraws him ever near;With his radiance splendidShall your light be blendedWhen his glory shall appear.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: no running head on this page; hymn number «1244» (large, left), title «IS YOUR LAMP BURNING?» centred (condensed capitals and small capitals); under it, centred on two lines, the epigraph «"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."—Matt. 5 : 16.»; on the next line «PRISCILLA J. OWENS.» at the left (words) and «I. BALTZELL.» at the right (music), both in capitals and small capitals. No meter and no reference line are printed. The three stanzas are interlinear, numbered «1.»–«3.», in systems 1–3 (to «Fine.»); «CHORUS.» stands over the music after the double bar of system 3, and the chorus words run on the level of the stanza-2 line there («O brother! is your») and as one line in system 4. After «D. S.» the music returns to the segno (over «Is your», system 2) and ends at «Fine.»; the words for that return are printed in italics under the bass staff of systems 2–3, preceded by «D. S.—» («D. S.—Are you waiting, yearning For your / Lord's re - turn - ing? Are you watching day by day?»): they complete the chorus and are written here as its last three lines, in the order sung. The chorus is printed once and is sung after every stanza. Under the music, centred: «From "Holy Voices," by permission» (no final period). Words printed whole under two notes («yearning», «pressing», «radiance», «splendid», «vanguard», «brother», «burning», «waiting», «watching») and the syllable divisions are recorded in `lyrics_syllables.txt`; here the words are joined. Curly quotes and apostrophes are written straight. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's («light-bearer», «o'erflowing», «Lord's»).