Jerusalem The Golden

A General Hymn

"And the city was pure gold."

Words: Excerpted from "De Contemptu Mundi," St. Bernard, 12th Century
Translated by Rev. John Mason Neale in Hora Novissima

Music: Ewing
Meter: 76 76 D

Source: Hymns Ancient and Modern. London: William Clowes and Sons, Ltd., 1922, #228, p. 239.

1. Jerusalem the golden,
    With milk and honey blest,
Beneath thy contemplation
    Sink heart and voice opprest.
I know not, oh, I know not
    What joys await us there,
What radiancy of glory,
    What bliss beyond compare.

2. They stand, those halls of Sion,
    All jubilant with song,
And bright with many an Angel,
    And all the Martyr throng;
The Prince is ever in them,
    The daylight is serene:
The pastures of the blesséd
    Are deck'd in glorious sheen.

3. There is the throne of David;
    And there, from care released,
The shout of them that triumph,
    The song of them that feast;
And they, who with their Leader
    Have conquer'd in the fight,
For ever and for ever
    Are clad in robes of white.

4. O sweet and blessed country
    The home of God's elect!
O sweet and blessed country
    That eager hearts expect!
Jesu, in mercy bring us
    To that dear land of rest;
Who art, with God the Father
    And Spirit, ever Blest.

Sheet Music "Ewing" by A. Ewing from Hymns Ancient and Modern. London: William Clowes and Sons, Ltd., 1922, #228, p. 239.

Note:

John Mason Neale's Hora Novissima, a translation of an excerpt from St. Bernard's De Contemptu Mundi (ca. 1145), was the source of at least four modern hymns including "Jerusalem The Golden," "The World Is Very Evil," "Brief Life is Here Our Portion," and "For Thee, O Dear, Dear Country."

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