Singing the Living Tradition ‎#9

9. No Longer Forward nor Behind

1 No longer forward nor behind
I look in hope or fear;
but, grateful, take the good I find,
the best of now and here.
I break my pilgrim staff,
I lay aside the toiling oar;
the angel sought so far away
I welcome at my door.

2 For all the jarring notes of life
seem blending in a psalm,
and all the angles of its strife
slow rounding into calm.
And so the shadows fall apart,
and so the west winds play;
and all the windows of my heart
I open to the day.

Text Information

• First Line: No longer forward nor behind
• Title: No Longer Forward nor Behind
• Author: John Greenleaf Whittier, 1807-1892
• Meter: 8.6.8.6.6.8.8.6.
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1993
• Topic: Transcending Mystery and Wonder: The Celebration of Life; The Eternal Now; Morning; Serenity

Tune Information

• Name: VAN DIEMAN'S LAND
• Arranger: Waldemar Hille, 1908-
• Meter: 8.6.8.6.6.8.8.6.
• Incipit: 54512 34765 44311
• Key: d minor or modal
• Source: Van Dieman's Land [English folk]