To Jesus, the Crown of my hope, My soul is in haste to be gone: O bear me, ye cherubim, up, And waft me away to his throne! | My Savior, whom absent I love, Whom, not having seen, I adore; Whose name is exalted above All glory, dominion, and power; | Dissolve thou these bonds, that detain My soul from her portion in thee; Ah! strike off this adamant chain, And make me eternally free. | When that happy era begins, When arrayed in thy glories I shine, Nor grieve any more, by my sins, The bosom on which I recline: | Oh, then shall the veil be removed, And round me thy brightness be poured; I shall meet him whom absent I loved, I shall see whom unseen I adored. | And then, never more shall the fears, The trials, temptations, and woes, Which darken this valley of tears, Intrude on my blissful repose. | Or, if yet remembered above, Remembrance no sadness shall raise; They will be but new signs of thy love, New themes for my wonder and praise. | Thus the strokes which from sin and from pain Shall set me eternally free, Will but strengthen and rivet the chain Which binds me, my Savior, to thee. | |