God has gone up with a merry noise

Author: Reginald Heber

Reginald Heber was born in 1783 into a wealthy, educated family. He was a bright youth, translating a Latin classic into English verse by the time he was seven, entering Oxford at 17, and winning two awards for his poetry during his time there. After his graduation he became rector of his father's church in the village of Hodnet near Shrewsbury in the west of England where he remained for 16 years. He was appointed Bishop of Calcutta in 1823 and worked tirelessly for three years until the weather and travel took its toll on his health and he died of a stroke. Most of his 57 hymns, which include "Holy, Holy, Holy," are still in use today. -- Greg Scheer, 1995… Go to person page >

God is gone up with a merry noise. Bishhop R. Heber. [Ascension.] Published in his posthumous Hymns, &c, 1827, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines, as the second of three hymns for Easter Day, Its appropriateness to Ascensiontide, rather than Easter-day, has led to its adoption, in some cases, for the Ascension. It is one of the least known of Heber's hymns, and is only adopted by Kennedy and a few others.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)