All the rivers run into the sea.
Ecclesiastes 1:7
Words: Jessie D. Willdy, in The King’s Praises Number Three, by Henry Gilmour et al. (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Praise Publishing, 1912), number 98.
Music: Pretoria Henry L. Gilmour, 1912 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good photo of Willdy (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
Swift flashing onward
With the restless tide
We drift along, nor
Heeding wind, nor rain;
Far out upon life’s
Ocean wild, and wide,
We linger, and at
Last the harbor gain.
Refrain
As ever flow
The waters to the sea,
Thro’ sunlit days, and
Dreary gloom of night:
So are we surely
Coming unto Thee,
Where darkness shall be
Turned to endless light.
Yet true as rivers
Travel from their source,
Or shadows from the
Sunlight ever flee,
As stars traverse the
Heavens in their course,
So do we ever
Follow unto Thee.
Refrain
Sometimes the path is
Tedious, drear and long,
And hearts aweary
Falter by the way;
Sometimes a minor
Chord sounds thro’ the song,
And winds blow chill, and
Clouds are dull and gray.
Refrain
Thus one by one the
Days glide into years,
And year by year we
Closer come to Thee,
Thro’ sunshine and thro’
Rain, thro’ smiles and tears,
As ever flow the
Waters to the sea.
Refrain