Watchman, Tell Us of the Night

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Watchman! tell us of the night

Author: John Bowring (1825)
Tune: WATCHMAN (Mason)
Published in 867 hymnals

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	Watchman, Tell Us of the Night

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Representative Text

1 Watchman, tell us of the night,
what its signs of promise are.
Traveler, what a wondrous sight:
see that glory-beaming star.
Watchman, does its beauteous ray
news of joy or hope foretell?
Traveler, yes; it brings the day,
promised day of Israel.

2 Watchman, tell us of the night;
higher yet that star ascends.
Traveler, blessedness and light,
peace and truth its course portends.
Watchman, will its beams alone
gild the spot that gave them birth?
Traveler, ages are its own;
see, it bursts o’er all the earth.

3 Watchman, tell us of the night,
for the morning seems to dawn.
Traveler, shadows take their flight;
doubt and terror are withdrawn.
Watchman, you may go your way;
hasten to your quiet home.
Traveler, we rejoice today,
for Emmanuel has come!

Source: Glory to God: the Presbyterian Hymnal #97

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Author: John Bowring

James Bowring was born at Exeter, in 1792. He possessed at an early age a remarkable power of attaining languages, and acquired some reputation by his metrical translations of foreign poems. He became editor of "The Westminster Review" in 1825, and was elected to Parliament in 1835. In 1849, he was appointed Consul at Canton, and in 1854, was made Governor of Hong Kong, and received the honour of knighthood. He is the author of some important works on politics and travel, and is the recipient of several testimonials from foreign governments and societies. His poems and hymns have also added to his reputation. His "Matins and Vespers" have passed through many editions. In religion he is a Unitarian. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charl… Go to person page >

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Related Texts

How Firm a Foundation

First Line:	Watchman! tell us of the night
Title:	Watchman, Tell Us of the Night
Author:	John Bowring (1825)
Meter:	7.7.7.7 D
Language:	English
Refrain First Line:	Traveler, yes, it brings the day
Copyright:	Public Domain

English

10 shown out of 487

Hebrew

Hymns of Faith, with Music #d93

Yiddish

Hymns of Faith, with Music #d93

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Watchman! tell us of the night. Sir J. Bowring. [Advent.] First published in his Hymns, 1825, No. 59, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines. It is found in several modern hymnals, including Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, &c.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Notes

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

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Watchman, tell us of the night

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Tune

WATCHMAN (Mason)

ST. GEORGE'S WINDSOR (Elvey)

George J. Elvey (PHH 48) composed ST. GEORGE'S WINDSOR as a setting for James Montgomery's text "Hark! The Song of Jubilee," with which it was published in Edward H. Thorne's Selection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1858). The tune has been associated with Alford's text since publication of the hymn in th…

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Page Scans

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Glory to God: the Presbyterian Hymnal (2013), p.165

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Instances

Instances (1 - 100 of 867)

A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (15th ed.) #102

A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion. (10th ed.) #102

A Book of Worship for the Use of the Evangelical Lutheran Church ... of the Church of the Redeemer, Richmond, Virginia #d180

A Collection of Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs; suited to the various kinds of Christian worship; and especially designed for and adapted to the Fraternity of the Brethren... #207

Additional Hymns, Adopted by the General Synod of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in North America, at their Session, June 1846, and authorized to be used in the churches under their care #204

Book of Hymns and Tunes, comprising the psalms and hymns for the worship of God, approved by the general assembly of 1866, arranged with appropriate tunes... by authority of the assembly of 1873 #292

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Watchman, Tell Us of the Night

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