Classic Poem

O RIVER of God! roll on e'ermore.
On the bright and blissful tide
Have our saints now safe on the heavenly shore
Been borne to the Saviour's side.
Our loved ones shine in their robes of white,
All cleansed in thy crystal stream,
In the image of him they love, more bright
Than the sheen of a fairy dream.

O river of God! roll on: in thee
Exulting, I'd bathe my soul,
Till my sin-stained spirit was pure and free,
And each thought knew love's control.
Salvation is in thy gentle flow:
Thy waters have power to heal;
Their taste, O God! bid my soul to know,
Their virtues my heart to feel.

O river of God! roll on, and still,
Like the river the prophet saw,
May thy waters deepen, thy channels fill,
Till the world can hold no more!
And the timid saint may God inspire
With the strength earth may not know,
To swim when thy waters, rising higher,
His head would overflow!

O river of God! roll on, roll on,
In thy channels broad and deep;
With tide unebbing still flow on
While the nations wake and sleep.
O'er thy flowery banks hang the healing leaves,
On the trees so large and fair,
Whose fruit the voyager with joy receives,
And angels' food may share.

O river of God! roll on, roll on,
Till thy waves shall skirt each shore,
Till the wide, wide world shall be fruitful made
By thy fertilizing power,
Till the far-off heathen no more shall bow
Where a Ganges in vain may glide,
But wash from his soul earth's sin and woe
In thy glad and sparkling tide.

O river of God! roll on, roll on,
Thy waves no bar shall know;
Flow on till the break of the endless morn;
Unhindered, through Time, still flow!
And when thy vast waters the sea shall gain,
God's ocean of love and joy,
High praises shall sound far o'er the bright main,
Whose echoes no more shall die.