Scripture Verse

God shall wipe away all tears…and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. Revelation 21:4

Introduction

Words: C. Hart­ley, in The Wel­come, ed­it­ed by J. M. Kie­ffer (Cleve­land, Ohio: S. Brain­ard’s Sons, 1873), num­ber 106.

Mu­sic: Sainte-Cha­pelle Will­iam T. Ro­gers, 1873 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Hart­ley or Ro­gers (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

The world ab­ove is not like this,
So dark, so sad and drear;
Oh no, for there the years of bliss
Roll on with­out a tear!
No gloom, no night, nor cloud of grief
Can ev­er cast a shade
Across those sun­ny plains of peace
In light and love ar­rayed!

Refrain

The world ab­ove is not like this,
So dark, so sad, and drear;
Oh no, for there the years of bliss
Roll on with­out a tear!

The world ab­ove is not like this,
No part­ing tears are shed,
Nor sweet af­fect­ion’s lin­ger­ing kiss,
Bestowed up­on the dead;
There sev­ered hearts unite again,
In love around the throne,
And far be­yond this world of pain
Take up their crown and home!

Refrain

Oh for a harp in that bright world,
Far from the tears of this;
Here death’s black bann­ers are un­furled
To shade each hour of bliss;
But there each spir­it-harp will thrill
With mu­sic’s end­less tones,
And Je­sus’ smile for­ev­er fill
With light our an­gel homes.

Refrain