The Hymnal, Revised and Enlarged, as adopted by the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America in the year of our Lord 1892 ‎#407a

407a. For thee, O dear, dear country

1 For thee, O dear, dear country,
Mine eyes their vigils keep;
For very love, beholding
Thy holy name, they weep.
The mention of thy glory
Is unction to the breast,
And medicine in sickness,
And love, and life, and rest.

2 O one, O only mansion!
O Paradise of joy!
Where tears are ever banished
And smiles have no alloy;
Thy loveliness oppresses
All human thought and heart,
And none, O Peace, O Sion
Can sing thee as thou art.

3 With jaspers glow thy bulwarks,
Thy streets with emeralds blaze;
The sardius and the topaz
Unite in Thee their rays;
Thine ageless walls are bonded
With amethyst unpriced;
The saints build up its fabric,
And the corner stone is Christ.

4 The cross is all thy splendor,
The Crucified thy praise;
His laud and benediction
Thy ransomed people raise;
Upon the Rock of Ages
They build thy holy tower;
Thine is the victor's laurel,
And thine the golden dower.

Amen.

Text Information

• First Line: For thee, O dear, dear country
• Translator: Rev. J. M. Neale (1858)
• Author: Bernard of Cluny (1145)
• Meter: 7.6.D.
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1892
• Topic: Processional; Church Triumphant; Hope
• Notes: Part III. Tune name in index: SAINTS' DAY

Tune Information

• Name: [For thee, O dear, dear country]
• Composer: Samuel Smith
• Meter: 7.6.D.
• Key: E♭ Major