Scripture Verse

Watch…for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. Matthew 24:42

Introduction

portrait
Henry B. Hartzler
1840–1920

Words: Hen­ry B. Hartz­ler, in The Shin­ing Ri­ver, ed­it­ed by Hen­ry Per­kins & Will­iam O. Per­kins (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Ol­iv­er Dit­son, 1875), num­ber 26.

Music: Hen­ry S. Per­kins, in The Ev­er­green (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Henry S. Perkins (1833–1914)

Lyrics

Over a dis­mal waste of years,
Over the waves of blood and tears,
Over the graves of the mar­tyred dead,
Over the fields of the con­flict red,
Over the tombs of the bur­ied past,
Echoes the swell of the tem­pest blast.

Refrain

Watchman, awake!
For the ram­parts are shak­ing!
Rise from thy slum­ber,
The morn­ing now is break­ing!
See! the Mil­len­ni­um
Is sound­ing thro’ the sky,
Zion, arise!
Your re­demp­tion is nigh.

Over the self­ish dreams of men,
Over a world un­rea­dy then,
Soon shall a deep­en­ing sha­dow fall,
Ushering in at the trum­pet’s call,
Christ the Re­deem­er, and Christ the King,
Royally borne on the tem­pest wing.

Refrain

Over the ori­ent hills aglow,
Creeps from the twi­light rifts below,
Omen of joy for the strick­en earth,
Soon to re­joice in the se­cond birth,
Bathing in light from the up­per sky,
Brighter will grow as the ag­es fly.

Refrain

Soon shall the smil­ing val­leys sing
Under the feet of Christ the King!
Echo shall hur­ry the song afar,
Rolling the pæ­an from star to star;
Till on the rich gold­en harps on high,
Angels will car­ry the tid­ings by.

Refrain