The Cyber Hymnal ‎#12421

12421. I Shall Have Wings

1 There’s a voice that comes in my lonely hours,
And tenderly speaks to me
Of rest and home in my Father’s house,
Where happy my soul shall be.

Refrain:
I shall have wings, beautiful wings,
I shall have wings some day—
Bright wings of love from God above
To bear my glad soul away.

2 O I sit and think of those radiant wings,
By faith I behold them now,
And feel the hand of my Savior laid
So lovingly on my brow. [Refrain]

3 There’s a home for me, there’s a home for me,
My Savior has told me so,
Were tears of sorrow and pain shall cease
And pleasure eternal flow. [Refrain]

4 Oh the wings, the wings that I soon shall wear,
And joyfully speed my flight
From toil and care to a mansion fair
Of beauty and endless light. [Refrain]

Text Information

• First Line: There’s a voice that comes in my lonely hours
• Title: I Shall Have Wings
• Author: Frances Jane (Fanny) Crosby (1882)
• Refrain First Line: I shall have wings, beautiful wings
• Language: English
• Source: The Ark of Praise by John R. Sweney (Philadelphia: John J. Hood, 1882)
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: On the steam fer­ry boat ply­ing be­tween Liv­er­pool and Birken­head there might have been seen a few years ago a poor crip­pled boy, his bo­dy was grown al­most to man’s size, but his limbs were wi­thered and help­less, and not big­ger than the limbs of a child. He used to wheel him­self about in a small car­riage. He had a li­ttle mu­sic­al in­stru­ment on which he played, and while he ne­ver asked for any­thing, ve­ry few of the pas­sen­gers could hear his sweet mu­sic, or look at his hon­est, cheer­ful face, with­out drop­ping a pen­ny or two in­to his car­riage. One day a la­dy was stand­ing near, look­ing at him with great pi­ty; she thought how sad and lone­ly he must feel, un­a­ble to help him­self, and with no pros­pect of ev­er be­ing any bet­ter in this world, and turn­ing to a friend who was with her, she said, "Poor boy, what a sad life he has to lead, and no­thing in all the fu­ture to look for­ward to." She did not in­tend that he should hear this re­mark, but he did hear it, and as she was leav­ing the boat she saw a tear in his eye, and a bright smile on his face try­ing to chase the tear away, as he said, "I’m ex­pect­ing to have wings some day, lady"

Tune Information

• Name: [There’s a voice that comes in my lonely hours]
• Composer: John Robson Sweney
• Key: A♭ Major
• Copyright: Public Domain