Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal ‎#424

424. For Thee, O Dear, Dear Country

1 For thee, O 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 banish’d
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 jasper 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 shall build thy fabric,
And the cornerstone is Christ.

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

5 O sweet and blessed country,
The home of God’s elect!
O sweet and blessed country
That eager hearts expect!
Jesus, in mercy bring us
To that dear land of rest,
Who art, with God the Father,
And Spirit, ever blest.

Text Information

• First Line: For thee, O dear, dear country, Mine eyes their vigils keep
• Title: For Thee, O Dear, Dear Country
• Author: Bernard of Cluny (c. 1145)
• Translator: John Mason Neale (1818-1866) alt. (1858)
• Meter: 7.6.7.6.D.
• Publication Date: 1985
• Topic: Doctrines: Eternal Life

Tune Information

• Name: ELY CATHEDRAL
• Composer: T. Tertius Noble (1867-1953) (1895)
• Meter: 7.6.7.6.D.
• Incipit: 51513 53123 12351
• Key: G Major or modal
• Copyright: Copyright © 1910 by G. Schirmer, Inc. Used by permission of the publisher.