O’er the hills the sun is setting,
And the eve is drawing on;
Slowly drops the gentle twilight,
For another day is gone;
Gone for aye—its race is over,
Soon the darker shades will come;
Still, ’tis sweet to know at even,
We are one day nearer home.

Worn and weary, oft the pilgrim
Hails the setting of the sun;
For the goal is one day nearer,
And the journey nearly done;
Thus we feel when o’er life’s desert,
Heart and sandal-sore we roam
As the twilight gathers over us,
We are one day nearer home.

Nearer home! yes, one day nearer,
To our Father’s house on high—
To the green fields and the fountains
Of the land beyond the sky.
For the heavens grow brighter over us,
And the lamps hang in the dome;
And our tents are pitched still closer,
For we’re one day closer home.

One day nearer, sings the sailor,
As he glides the waters o’er,
While the light is softly dying
On his distant native shore;
Thus the Christian on life’s ocean
As his light boat cuts the foam,
In the evening cries with rapture—
I am one day nearer home.