Eternity, delightful sound

I. Eternity, delightful Sound!
Where real Joys are to be found,
And Scenes of endless Glory!
O Life! where Pleasures ever roll,
Thy Foretaste entertains my Soul
With Bliss not transitory.
Come All, who long for Heav'n on Earth,
You'll find it in the Second Birth.

II. The Glories of this present World
By Time and Tide are toss'd and hurl'd
Down to their full Destructions.
Look up, my soul, th'eternal Hills,
Where Pleasures glide on Chrystal Rills
With ever now Productions;
For, as the blest Apostles say,
That Bliss admits of no Decay.

III. Eternity! thy endless Length
Inspires my soul with Christian Strength
To bear these short Afflictions,
Consid'ring thine eternal Bliss,
I slight this World's Calamities
And constant Contradictions;
Whilst there I fix my longing Soul,
Where blissful years for ever roll.

IV. If you wou'd balance all the Pain
And Torments of the Martyrs slain,
E'en from the Fall of ADAM,
With that surpassing glorious Prize
Reserv'd for Saints to fathom,
They wou'd be found too light and frail
To move, much less to turn the Scale.

V. Reflect upon the dreadful Coasts
Of Hell, and all the frightful Ghosts
Tormenting one another!
Where num'rous Crouds of Sinners lye:
Tortur'd with keen Despair they try
Their Consciences to smother.
O! what surprizing Grace is this,
Which frees us from that dark Abyss!

VI. In Heav'n our happy Eyes and Ears
Shall still enjoy, for endless Years,
Transcending Scenes of Pleasure;
There all the Saints of God rejoice;
They love and sing with Heart and Voice
The Praise of God, their Treasure:
There CHRIST reveals a greater Store
Of Bliss, than they conceiv'd before.

VII. How do I long and faint to see
The Courts of blest Eternity
In all their glorious Beauty!
I'd part with all the Joys of Sense,
Take Wings of Faith and fly from hence
To the Reward of Duty.
If Thought alone gives such Delight,
What must th' Enjoyment of thy Sight!

VIII. Away with all the Dreams of Time:
Away what Worldlings call sublime:
Away with sinful Pleasure:
Away with all the golden Dust:
What Thieves may steal, or Time can rust;
I long for greater Treasure;
Nothing created can suffice
A soul, made for eternal Joys.

IX. Eternity! delightful Sound!
Where real Joys are to be found
And Scenes of endless Glory!
O Life, where Pleasures ever roll!
Thy Foretaste entertains my Soul
With Bliss not transitory.
O JESU, fix this Sense in me,
Till thou reveal'st Eternity.

Source: Psalmodia Germanica: or, The German Psalmody: translated from the high Dutch together with their proper tunes and thorough bass (2nd ed., corr. and enl.) #209