A Pilgrim's Song
For The New Year
Words: Horatius Bonar, 1842
Music: Various
Source: Horatius Bonar, Hymns of Faith and Hope. First Series. (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1866), pp. 112-4.
1. A few more years shall roll,
A few more seasons come,
And we shall be with those that rest
Asleep within the tomb;
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that great day.
2. A few more suns shall set
O’er these dark hills of time,
And we shall be where suns are not
A far serener clime:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that blest day.
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.
3. A few more storms shall beat
On this wild rocky shore,
And we shall be where tempests cease,
And surges swell no more;
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that calm day.
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.
4. A few more struggles here,
A few more partings o’er,
A few more toils, a few more tears,
And we shall weep no more:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that bright day.
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.
5. A few more Sabbaths here
Shall cheer us on our way,
And we shall reach the endless rest,
Th’ eternal Sabbath day; *
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that sweet day.
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.
6. ’Tis but a little while,
And He shall come again
Who died that we might live, who lives
That we with Him may reign;
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that glad day.
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.
*The old Latin hymn expresses this well.
“Illic
nec sabbato
Succedit sabbatum,
Perpes lætitia
Sabbatizantium.”
Return
Sheet Music “Chalvey” by Rev. L. G.
Hayne from
Mary Palmer and John Farmer, eds., Church Sunday School Hymn-Book
(London: Church of England Sunday-School Institute, 1892), #129,
pp. 126-7.
Meter: D.S.M.
Note:
“Written about the year 1842, and first printed on a fly-leaf for use by the members of his congregation on a New Year's Day. In 1844 it was published in No. 2 of his Songs for the Wilderness, again in the 1st series of Hymns of Faith and Hope, 1857, p. 101; and later eds. It is in 6 stanzas of 8 lines, SM, and entitled “A Pilgrim's Song.” Its use in all English-speaking countries, either in its full, or in an abbreviated form, is very extensive. In some cases its exquisite refrain ... is omitted, and it is thereby robbed of one of its most beautiful and striking features.” — Source: John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907),.p. 2.
Occurs in numerous other editions of Bonar's hymnal including 1865 (p. 76) and 1885 (p. 76), without music.
In many other hymnals, the second verse is omitted.
Additional music, including MIDI and score can be found at the Cyberhymnal, A Few More Years Shall Roll. <http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/f/e/fewmorey.htm > Tunes include “Leominster,” “Chalvey,” “Shawmut” and “St. Andrew (Barnby).”
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