Scripture Verse

There remaineth…a rest to the people of God. Hebrews 4:9

Introduction

Words: Ro­bert H. Wash­burne, in The Re­vi­val No. 4 (At­lan­ta, Geor­gia: Char­lie Till­man, 1903), num­ber 272.

Music: Al­der­shot Charles D. Till­man, 1903 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Wash­burne (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Charles D. Tillman (1861–1943)

Lyrics

O the sweet­est place in me­mo­ry
Is that lone­ly mound of earth,
Where my mo­ther soft­ly slum­bers,
Mother dear, who gave me birth;
Years have passed since she de­part­ed
From our midst at set of sun
Going to her home in Hea­ven,
For her earth­ly race was run.

Refrain

O the dear­est place to me­mo­ry
Is that hill­side far away,
Where she, sleep­ing ’neath the flow­ers,
Waits the re­sur­rect­ion day.

Oft I wan­der to the hill­side,
Sit be­side that grave so dear,
Where I hear the songs of an­gels
And I feel their pre­sence near;
Scenes of earth fade in the dist­ance,
And a glo­ri­ous host I see,
There among the white robed se­raphs,
Mother dear, await­ing me.

Refrain

So I jour­ney on in sad­ness
O’er life’s drea­ry, bar­ren waste,
Cheered by thoughts of bless­èd meet­ing,
As my steps to­ward Hea­ven haste;
There some day I too shall en­ter,
See my loved ones gone be­fore,
There shall greet again that mo­ther,
There abide for­ev­er­more.

Refrain

So I think of that old church­yard
On the hill­side far away,
And the form of that dear mo­ther
That we car­ried there one day;
Guarded still by God’s bright an­gels,
Who their so­lemn vi­gils keep,
Watching o’er her si­lent slum­ber,
Dearest mo­ther’s gen­tle sleep.

Refrain