Ye shall be gathered one by one.
Isaiah 27:12
Words: E. C. Howe, in Songs of Free Grace, by Daniel B. Towner (Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; and St. Louis, Missouri: Cranston & Stowe, 1883), number 35, alt.
Music: Phrae Daniel B. Towner, 1883 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know Howe’s full name, or where to get a good photo of him (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
We shall meet our friends departed,
Though we left them long ago
To their lone and dreamless slumbers,
In the silent dust below;
We shall meet them, O how glorious!
When this weary life is o’er,
In those bright, celestial regions,
Blest and happy evermore.
Refrain
We shall meet, yes, we shall meet them,
When our journeyings are o’er,
We shall meet them, Hallelujah!
On that bright and shining shore.
We shall meet our friends departed,
Who the promised land have won,
Shining as the stars of Heaven,
Round the everlasting throne;
Onward, every soul, to duty
Scatter wide the shades of gloom,
All of life is in the future,
Life is bliss beyond the tomb.
Refrain
We shall meet our friends departed,
Clothed in robes of heav’nly white,
And with sainted voices greet them
In a land of life and light;
Lift no voice of grief or sorrow,
That they molder in the dust;
We shall meet them on the morrow
At the rising of the just.
Refrain