Classic Poem

J ERUSALEM , high tower thy glorious walls,
Would God I were in thee!
My heart hath gone where thy fair beauty calls,
And dwells no more in me:
Far over hill and mountain,
Far over plain and dell,
On wings of rapture soaring,
It bids this world farewell!

O day of joy, and hour of pure delight —
How long wilt thou delay? —
When peacefully my soul may take its flight,
And leave this load of clay,
In perfect trust reposing
On God'S Almighty hand,
Who faithfully shall bring it
Home to its Fatherland.

Lo! from the tomb, up to the clouds of heaven,
It instantly shall soar,
When, hushed in death, its last farewell is given,
To earth, now seen no more;
Elijah's fiery chariot
In triumph it shall ride,
Upborne by angel armies,
That fly on every side.

Thy gates of pearl now open wide to me,
Thou City of the Blest:
To me, who oft have longed and prayed for thee,
And thy refreshing rest,
Ere sighs, and tears, and sorrow,
Ere pain, and grief, and woe,
Were changed to this rejoicing,
That all thy children know.

What shining host is this that comes to me,
Drawn up in bright array?
His chosen ones, with palms of victory,
His joy and crown are they.
These J ESUS sends to meet me,
To calm my doubts and fears:
From far they smile, and greet me,
In this dark vale of tears.

And now behold these prophets, priests, and kings,
And martyrs' noble band,
Who bore the Cross, and dared the torturings
Of tyrants to withstand;
See them in glory floating,
In freedom everywhere,
And, swift as glittering sunbeams,
Move radiant through the air.

In Paradise, among the saints above,
New pleasures I shall know,
With joy divine shall my triumphant love
In songs of praise o'erflow; —
Shall join the full hosannas
That echo all around,
And mighty alleluias
That ever there resound.

Clear trumpet tones, and harps with golden strings,
Those countless choirs employ,
So loud and sweet, heaven's living Temple rings
And trembles with the joy: —
Ten thousand times ten thousand,
A sea that has no shore, —
Whose praise in thundering billows
Rolls on for evermore.