Opening

I know that afar in God’s bound­less realm,
Perhaps ’mid the star­ry spaces,
Lies the pro­mised home of the saints re­deemed,
Replete with ce­les­ti­al graces;
In dreams I have walked on the streets of gold,
As I sought for my own fair dwell­ing;
And voic­es I knew and loved of old,
I’ve heard in the music swell­ing.

Refrain

That beau­ti­ful city is home to me,
Each day it is grow­ing dear­er;
And voic­es that call from be­yond the sea
Are draw­ing me near­er and near­er.

That beau­ti­ful city with jas­per walls,
Ne’er closes its pear­ly por­tals,
And the heal­ing pow­er of its ho­ly light
Sweeps ov­er the blest im­mor­tals;
There sor­row and tears shall be wiped away,
In the dawn of an end­less morn­ing,
Our tri­umphs of faith like stars shall shine—
Bright crowns for the soul’s adorn­ing.

Refrain

The lon­gings of life shall be sa­tis­fied,
The fet­ters of earth be broken,
And the words im­pris­oned with­in the soul,
With rap­ture shall then be spok­en;
The mu­sic that sor­row hath hushed awhile,
And the si­lence of life’s sad sto­ry,
Shall leap in­to songs of per­fect joy,
Attuned to eter­nal glo­ry.

Refrain