Scripture Verse

And I will give thee a crown of life. Revelation 2:10

Introduction

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Words: John At­kin­son, 1867.

Music: Hu­bert P. Main (🔊 pdf nwc). This song must have been one of Main’s fa­vo­rites: its first line is en­graved on his tomb­stone.

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

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Hubert P. Main (1839–1925)

Lyrics

We shall meet be­yond the ri­ver,
By and by, by and by;
And the dark­ness shall be ov­er,
By and by, by and by;
With the toil­some jour­ney done,
And the glo­ri­ous bat­tle won,
We shall shine forth as the sun,
By and by, by and by.

We shall strike the harps of glo­ry,
By and by, by and by;
We shall sing re­demp­tion’s sto­ry,
By and by, by and by;
And the strains for­ev­er­more
Shall re­sound in sweet­ness o’er
Yonder ev­er­last­ing shore,
By and by, by and by.

We shall see and be like Je­sus,
By and by, by and by;
Who a crown of life will give us,
By and by, by and by;
And the an­gels who ful­fill
All the man­dates of His will
Shall at­tend, and love us still,
By and by, by and by.

There our tears shall all cease flow­ing,
By and by, by and by;
And with sweet­est rap­ture know­ing,
By and by, by and by;
All the blest ones, who have gone
To the land of life and song—
We with shout­ings shall re­join,
By and by, by and by.