Earth below is teeming, heaven is bright above. J. S. B. Monsell. [Harvest.] In his Hymns of Love and Praise, &c, 1863, this hymn is given in 4 stanzas of 8 lines and a chorus. It is based upon the words, "They joy before Thee, according to the joy in harvest." For his Parish Hymnal, 1873, No. 197, stanzas iii. and iv. were partly rewritten, and materially improved. In Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872. No, §51, the Methodist Sunday School Hymn Book, 1879, the American Laudes Domini, 1884, the 1863 text is followed, Monsell's later text being apparently unknown to the compilers.
--John Julian Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
John Samuel Bewley Monsell (b. St. Colomb's, Londonderry, Ireland, 1811; d. Guilford, Surrey, England, 1875) was educated at Trinity College in Dublin and served as a chaplain and rector of several churches in Ireland after his ordination in 1835. Transferred to England in 1853, he became rector of Egham in Surrey and was rector of St. Nicholas Church in Guilford from 1870 until his death (caused by a construction accident at his church). A prolific poet, Monsell published his verse in eleven volumes. His three hundred hymns, many celebrating the seasons of the church year, were issued in collections such as Hymns and Miscellaneous Poems (1837), Spiritual Songs (1857), Hymns of Love and Praise (1863), and The Parish Hymnal (1873).
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