Scripture Verse

Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face. 1 Corinthians 13:12

Introduction

Words: At­trib­ut­ed to the Fran­cis­can Pe­ter Go­nel­la of Tor­to­na (Heu! Heu! ma­la mun­di vi­ta). It was first pub­lished at length by E. Le­vis in his An­ec­do­ta Sac­ra (Tur­in, It­aly: 1789). Eli­za­beth R. Charles trans­lat­ed a cen­to in that work (Di­es il­la, di­es vi­tae) from La­tin to Eng­lish in her Voice of Chris­tian Life in Song, 1858.

Music: Charles (Par­ker) James Park­er, in the Hym­nal of the Me­tho­dist Epis­co­pal Church with Tunes (New York: Ea­ton & Mains, 1878), num­ber 1026 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Le­vis’ full name, or where to get a good pic­ture of him, Par­ker, Go­nel­la, or Charles (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Lo, the day, the day of life!
Day of unimagined light,
Day when death it­self shall die,
And there shall be no more night!

See the King de­sired for ag­es,
By the just ex­pect­ed long,
Long im­plored, at length He hast­eth,
Cometh with sal­va­tion strong.

O how past all ut­ter­ance hap­py,
Sweet and joy­ful it will be,
When they who, un­seen, have loved Him,
Jesus face to face shall see.

Blessèd then, earth’s pa­tient mourn­ers,
Who for Christ have toiled and died,
Driven by the world’s rough pres­sure
In those man­sions to abide!

What will be the bliss and rap­ture
None can dream, and none can tell,
There to reign among the an­gels,
In that heav’n­ly home to dwell.