There is a river pure and bright

There is a river pure and bright

Author: James Montgomery
Tune: WARE (Kingsley)
Published in 6 hymnals

Representative Text

There is a river pure and bright,
Whose streams make glad the heavenly plains,
Where, in eternity of light,
The City of our God remains.

Built by the word of His command,
With His unclouded presence blest,
Firm as His throne, the bulwarks stand;
There is our home, our hope, our rest.

228
Thither let fervent faith aspire;
Our treasure and our heart be there:
Oh! for a seraph's wing of fire!
No,--on the mightier wings of prayer,--

We reach at once that last retreat,
And, ranged among the ransom'd throng,
Fall with the elders at His feet,
Whose Name alone inspires their song.

Ah! soon, how soon! our spirits droop;
Unwont the air of heaven to breathe;
Yet God, in very deed, will stoop,
And dwell Himself with men beneath.

Come to thy living temples, then,
As in the ancient times appear;
Let earth be Paradise again,
And man, O God! thine image here.

Sacred Poems and Hymns

Author: James Montgomery

James Montgomery (b. Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, 1771; d. Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, 1854), the son of Moravian parents who died on a West Indies mission field while he was in boarding school, Montgomery inherited a strong religious bent, a passion for missions, and an independent mind. He was editor of the Sheffield Iris (1796-1827), a newspaper that sometimes espoused radical causes. Montgomery was imprisoned briefly when he printed a song that celebrated the fall of the Bastille and again when he described a riot in Sheffield that reflected unfavorably on a military commander. He also protested against slavery, the lot of boy chimney sweeps, and lotteries. Associated with Christians of various persuasions, Montgomery supported missio… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: There is a river pure and bright
Author: James Montgomery
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

There is a river pure and bright. J. Montgomery. [Hope of Heaven.] From his Original Hymns, 1853, No. 229, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. In the Rugby School Chapel Hymns, 1872 and 1906, it is abbreviated to stanzas i-iv.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 6 of 6)

General Baptist Hymn Book #d464

Psalms and Hymns Adapted to Social, Private and Public Worship #d794

Text

Sacred Poems and Hymns #229

Page Scan

Song-Hymnal of Praise and Joy #74

Page Scan

The Christian Psalmist; or, Watts' Psalms and Hymns #P46d

The Church Hymn Book #d546

Suggestions or corrections? Contact us