Scripture Verse

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. Revelation 21:23

Introduction

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Horatius Bonar (1808–1889)

Words: Ho­ra­ti­us Bo­nar, Hymns of Faith and Hope, sec­ond ser­ies (Lon­don: James Nis­bet, 1861), pag­es 120–21.

Music: Ed­win P. Park­er, The Sun­day School Hym­nal (New York & Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: A. S. Barnes, 1880) (🔊 pdf nwc).

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Edwin P. Parker (1836–1920)

Lyrics

Dropping down the trou­bled ri­ver,
To the tran­quil, tran­quil shore;
Dropping down the mis­ty ri­ver,
Time’s wil­low-shad­ed ri­ver,
To the spring em­bo­somed shore,
Where the sweet light shin­eth ev­er,
And the sun goes down no more.
O won­drous, won­drous shore!
O won­drous, won­drous shore!

Dropping down the wind­ing ri­ver,
To the wide and wel­come sea;
Dropping down the nar­row ri­ver,
Man’s wea­ry, way­ward ri­ver,
To the blue and am­ple sea,
Where no tem­pest wreck­eth ever,
Where the sky is fair and free.
O joy­ous, joy­ous, sea!
O joy­ous, joy­ous, sea!

Dropping down the noi­sy ri­ver,
To our peace­ful, peace­ful home;
Dropping down the tur­bid ri­ver,
Earth’s bust­ling, crowd­ed ri­ver,
To our gen­tle, gen­tle home;
Where the rough roar ris­eth ne­ver,
And the vex­ings can­not come;
O loved and longed for home!
O loved and longed for home!

Dropping down the ed­dy­ing ri­ver,
With a helms­man true and tried;
Dropping down the pe­ri­lous ri­ver,
Mortality’s dark ri­ver,
With a sure and heav’n­ly guide;
Even Him who, to de­li­ver
My soul from death, hath died;
O Helmsman true and tried!
O Helmsman true and tried!

Dropping down the ra­pid ri­ver,
To the dear and death­less land;
Dropping down the well known ri­ver,
Life’s swoll’n and rush­ing ri­ver,
To the re­sur­rect­ion-land;
Where the liv­ing live for ever,
And the dead have joined the band;
O fair and bless­èd land!
O fair and bless­èd land!