| Jerusalem! thou City towering high, Would God I were in thee! My longing soul doth ever pant and sigh Within thy walls to be; By faith from earth it sallies, And far o’er stretching plains, Far over hills and valleys, Soars till thy gate it gains. | | O joyful day, and O thrice joyful hour, When will thy dawn appear, When I, with heart released from sin’s dread power, And joy unmixed with fear, My parting soul commending To God’s own faithful hand, Shall, at my journey’s ending, Reach that blest Fatherland! | | Then in a moment shall my spirit quit This lower element; In silent mystery high-soaring flit To heaven’s bright firmament, Elijah’s chariot mounting, Borne on sustaining hands, That baffle powers of counting, Of joyful angel bands. | | Hail, glorious City! O that thou wouldst ope Thy gates of mercy wide, To enter which, with still deferrèd hope, I long have groaned and sighed, While here my weary spirit, In this bleak world of sin, The kingdom I inherit Has thirsted sore to win. | | Who are these myriads bright, whose glorious band In countless throng appears, By Jesus sent to meet me on the strand Of this dark land of tears? Of endless life the winners, These are His joy and crown, Whom from this world of sinners He chose to be His Own. | | Prophets and patriarchs there, and Christians all Who have, in every age, Endured the cross, or, at their Master’s call, Braved persecution’s rage, Now, amid joy unbounded, From earthly care set free, With cloudless day surrounded, A dazzling host I see. | | When God to his blest paradise of joy My soul at length shall raise, Pleasures shall fill my mind which never cloy, My mouth glad notes of praise: Voices in concord vying There Alleluia sing; Unwearied still replying, There loud hosannas ring. | | From choir to choir, before the Lamb’s bright throne, The sound is borne along, Till joy’s bright temple to the wondrous tone Vibrates in choral song. In notes of exultation Unnumbered voices rise, As since the first creation They echo through the skies. | |