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