Scripture Verse

Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel. Isaiah 30:29

Introduction

portrait
Eben E. Rexford (1848–1916)

Words: Eb­en E. Rex­ford, 1901.

Music: Adıyaman Ira D. San­key (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Ira D. Sankey (1840–1908)

Origin of the Hymn

In the year 1901 Mr. Eb­en Rex­ford, ed­it­or of the La­dies’ Home Jour­nal land­scape and gar­den­ing de­part­ment, wrote me, ask­ing a do­na­tion of fif­ty co­pies of Gos­pel Hymns for a poor church, say­ing he would give me twen­ty new hymns in ex­change.

I sent the books and re­ceived the hymns, among which I found A Song of Hea­ven and Home­land, which I soon set to mu­sic, and which I con­sid­er one of my best com­po­si­tions. It was first pub­lished in the La­dies’ Home Jou­rnal.

Sankey, p. 319

Lyrics

Sometimes I hear strange mu­sic,
Like none e’er heard be­fore,
Come float­ing soft­ly earth­ward
As thro’ Heav’n’s op­en door:
It seems like ang­el voices,
In strains of joy and love,
That swell the migh­ty chorus
Around the throne above.

Refrain

O sweet, ce­les­ti­al music,
Heard from a land afar—
The song of Heav’n and Home­land,
Thro’ doors God leaves ajar!

Now soft, and low, and rest­ful,
It floods my soul with peace,
As if God’s be­ne­dict­ion
Bade all earth’s trou­bles cease.
Then, grand­er than the voic­es
Of wind, and wave, and sea—
It fills the dome of Hea­ven
With glo­ri­ous har­mo­ny.

Refrain

This music haunts me ev­er,
Like some­thing heard in dreams—
It seems to catch the ca­dence
Of heav’n­ly winds and streams.
My heart is filled with rap­ture,
To think, some day to come,
I’ll sing it with the an­gels—
The song of Heav’n and home.

Refrain