Scripture Verse

Come, ye children, hearken unto me. Psalm 34:11

Introduction

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Fanny Crosby
1820–1915

Words: Fan­ny Cros­by, in The Sil­ver Spray, by How­ard Doane (Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: John Church, 1868), num­ber 89. Writ­ten for the First [Bap­tist Sab­bath] School, In­di­an­a­po­lis, J. R. Os­good, [Su­per­in­tend­ent].

Music: W. How­ard Doane (🔊 pdf nwc).

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W. Howard Doane
1832–1915

Lyrics

We are a band of merry children,
Full of glee, full of glee,
Like the springtime in its beauty,
Glad are we, glad are we;
Bright is the busy world around us,
Bright with flowers, bright with flowers,
Smiles from the sunny vale above us,
Come with the hours, come with the hours.

Refrain

We are a band of merry, merry children,
While to the Sunday school we cling,
We are a band of merry, merry children,
Tried and true, tried and true.

Happy am I, the bird is singing,
Wild and free, wild and free,
While to the song with hearts we echo,
So are we, so are we;
O! there is joy in every blossom,
We may share, we may share,
While we adore the hand that made it,
Pure and fair, pure and fair.

Refrain

Happy am I, the wind is sighing,
Thro’ the shade, thro’ the shade;
Sweet is my home the daisy murmurs,
In the glade, in the glade;
Thus we can say in days of childhood,
Full of glee, full of glee,
Blending our hearts with nature’s voices,
Blest are we, blest are we.

Refrain