Part 1.
1 Oh, what shall be, oh, when shall be,
That holy Sabbath day,
Which heavenly care shall ever keep,
And celebrate always;
When rest is found for weary limbs,
When labor hath reward,
When everything, for evermore,
Is joyful in the Lord?
2 The true Jerusalem above,
The holy town, is there,
Whose duties are so full of joy,
Whose joy so free from care;
Where disappointment cometh not
To check the longing heart,
And where the soul in ecstasy
Hath gained her better part.
3 There, there, secure from every ill,
In freedom we shall sing
The songs of Zion, hindered here
By days of suffering;
And unto thee our gracious Lord
Our praises shall confess
That all our sorrow hath been good,
And thou by pain canst bless.
Part II.
4 O glorious King! O happy State!
A Palace of the blest!
O sacred peace, and holy joy,
And perfect heavenly rest!
To thee aspire thy citizens
In glory's bright array,
And what they feel and what they know
They strive in vain to say.
5 But while we wait and long for home,
It shall be ours to raise
Our songs and chants and vows and prayers
In that dear country's praise;
And from these Babylonian streams
To lift our weary eyes,
And view the city that we love
Descending from the skies.
6 There Sabbath day to Sabbath day
Sheds on a ceaseless light;
Eternal pleasure of the saints
Who keep that Sabbath bright;
Nor shall the chant ineffable
Decline, nor ever cease,
Which we with all the angels sing
In that sweet realm of peace.
Source: Laudes Domini: a selection of spiritual songs ancient & modern (Abr. ed.) #595
Abelard, Peter, born at Pailais, in Brittany, 1079. Designed for the military profession, he followed those of philosophy and theology. His life was one of strange chances and changes, brought about mainly through his love for Heloise, the niece of one Fulbert, a Canon of the Cathedral of Paris, and by his rationalistic views. Although a priest, he married Heloise privately. He was condemned for heresy by the Council of Soissons, 1121, and again by that of Sens, 1140; died at St. Marcel, near Chalons-sur-Saône, April 21, 1142. For a long time, although his poetry had been referred to both by himself and by Heloise, little of any moment was known except the Advent hymn, Mittit ad Virginem, (q.v.). In 1838 Greith published in his Spicihgium… Go to person page >
Duffield, Samuel Augustus Willoughby, son of G. Duffield, jun., was born at Brooklyn, Sept. 24, 1843, and graduated at Yale College, 1863. In 1866 he was licensed, and in 1867 ordained as a Presbyterian Minister, and is now [1886] Pastor of West¬minster Church, Bloomfield, New Jersey. He published in 1867 a translation of Bernard's Hora novissima (q.v.): Warp and Woof; a Book of Verse, 1868 (copyright, 1870); and The Burial of the Dead (in conjunction with his father), 1882. In the Laudes Domini, N.Y., 1884, the following translations and an original hymn are by him:—
1. Holy Spirit, come and shine. A translation of "Veni Sancte Spiritus." 1883.
2. O Christ, the Eternal Light. A translation of "Christe lumen perpetuum." 1883.… Go to person page >
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