Scripture Verse

The Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise. 1 Thessalonians 4:16

portrait
Marcus L. Williams (1843–1914)

Introduction

Words & Mu­sic: Mar­cus L. Will­iams, in New Songs of Praise, ed­it­ed by Al­fred E. Hel­ton et al. (Le­noir, North Ca­ro­li­na: Teach­ers’ Mu­sic Pub­lish­ing, 1913), num­ber 4 (🔊 pdf nwc).

The book states Will­iams was liv­ing in De­ca­tur, Mis­sis­sip­pi, when this song was pub­lished. The song had this de­di­ca­tion: In me­mo­ry of bro­ther who died in the val­ley, near the ri­ver side, July, 1863.—M. L. W. The bro­ther was ap­par­ent­ly Will­iam Jack­son Will­iams, who, with Mar­cus, was in Com­pa­ny D, Mis­sis­sip­pi 39th In­fan­try Re­gi­ment.

Lyrics

It was down in the val­ley,
And near the ri­ver side,
Where last I saw my bro­ther
Ere he crossed the dark tide;
When the trum­pet shall bid all
The dead in Christ arise,
I shall meet my loved ones,
And there’ll be no more good­byes.

Refrain

We shall meet to part no more,
By and by on the blest shore;
We shall meet to part no more,
Meet our loved ones gone before.

It was down in the val­ley
I wander in des­pair,
And an­gels seem to ga­ther
Round me ten­der­ly there;
It is down in the val­ley
Where weep­ing wil­lows grow,
That I dream of home and loved
Ones in the long ago.

Refrain

In the valley so lone­ly
I often kneel in prayer,
And Je­sus helps me all my
Heavy bur­dens to bear;
When in si­lence the mo­ments
Of life shall pass away,
I will jour­ney on­ward
To the realms of end­less day.

Refrain