Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.
Isaiah 33:17
Words: Anne Steele, Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional 1760.
Music: Gräfenberg Johann Crüger, Praxis Pietatis Melica, 1647 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good picture of Steele (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
Far from these narrow scenes of night
Unbounded glories rise,
And realms of infinite delight
Unknown to mortal eyes.
Far distant land—could mortal eyes
But half its joys explore,
How would our spirits long to rise,
And dwell on earth no more!
There pain and sickness never come,
And grief no more complains!
Health triumphs in immortal bloom,
And endless pleasure reigns!
From discord free and war’s alarms,
And want and pining care,
Plenty and peace unite their charms,
And smile unchanging there.
There rich varieties of joy,
Continual feast the mind;
Pleasures which fill, but never cloy,
Immortal and refined!
No factious strife, no envy there,
The sons of peace molest,
But harmony and love sincere,
Fill every happy breast.
No cloud those blissful regions know,
For ever bright and fair!
For sin, the source of mortal woe,
Can never enter there.
There no alternate night is known,
Nor sun’s faint sickly ray;
But glory from the sacred throne
Spreads everlasting day.
That glorious Monarch there displays
His beams of wondrous grace;
His happy subjects sing His praise,
And bow before His face.
O may the heavenly prospect fire
Our hearts with ardent love,
Till wings of faith and strong desire
Bear every thought above.
Prepare us, Lord, by grace divine,
For Thy bright courts on high;
Then bid our spirits rise and join
The chorus of the sky.