1 I sat alone at midnight hour,
And watched the star-lit sky,
And dreamed I hear my mother say:
“I wish my boy was nigh,
I know not where he is tonight,
He crossed the troubled main;
But this I know, if life holds out,
He’ll wander back again.”
“He’s coming home, O joyful tho’t!
My boy no more will roam;
A letter here says mother dear,
I’m coming, coming home.
2 He’s gone tho’ now, far, far away,
Perhaps in deserts wild;
O God to Thee, I pray tonight
To keep my distant child,
No father there to guide him now,
No brother with his cheer,
No mother there to soothe his brow,
No sister with her tear.”
“He’s coming home, O joyful tho’t!
My boy no more will roam;
A letter here says mother dear,
I’m coming, coming home.
3 I fancy now I see his face,
As fair as when a child;
And he’s a full-grown man today,
And true and brave, but mild.
A letter here says “Mother dear,
No longer I will roam;
So now I stand and watch the gate,
I know he’s coming home.”
“He’s coming home, O joyful tho’t!
My boy no more will roam;
A letter here says mother dear,
I’m coming, coming home.
4 Alas, dear friends ‘twas but a dream,
My mother’s here no more;
She left this world of sin and pain,
For Canaan’s happy shore.
Lord, send some messenger of love
To guide my wayward feet,
That I may meet my mother there
Inside the pearly gate.
I’m going home, ‘twill not be long
Ere I shall cease to roam;
And then I’ll join redemption’s song,
With mother dear at home.
Source: Soul Inspiring Songs #104