Far down the ages now

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Far down the ages now

Author: Horatius Bonar
Published in 67 hymnals

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Piano/Organ
	Ten Chorale Improvisations, Set 5

Representative Text

1 Far down the ages now,
Much of her journey done,
The pilgrim church pursues her way,
Until her crown be won.

2 No wider is the gate,
No broader is the way,
No smoother is the ancient path
That leads to life and day.

3 No sweeter is the cup,
Nor less our lot of ill;
'T was tribulation ages since,
'T is tribulation still.

4 No slacker grows the fight,
No feebler is the foe,
Nor less the need of armor tried,
Of shield, and spear, and bow.

5 Thus onward still we press,
Through evil and through good—
Thro' pain, and poverty, and want,
Thro' peril and thro' blood.

6 Still faithful to our God,
And to our Captain true,
We follow where he leads the way;
The Kingdom in our view.

Source: The Christian Hymnary. Bks. 1-4 #402

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Author: Horatius Bonar

Horatius Bonar was born at Edinburgh, in 1808. His education was obtained at the High School, and the University of his native city. He was ordained to the ministry, in 1837, and since then has been pastor at Kelso. In 1843, he joined the Free Church of Scotland. His reputation as a religious writer was first gained on the publication of the "Kelso Tracts," of which he was the author. He has also written many other prose works, some of which have had a very large circulation. Nor is he less favorably known as a religious poet and hymn-writer. The three series of "Hymns of Faith and Hope," have passed through several editions. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Far down the ages now
Author:	Horatius Bonar
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

Far down the ages now. H. Bonar. [The Church Militant.] Published in his Hymns of Faith and Hope, 1st Series, 1857, in 14 stanzas of 4 lines. The centos in common use all begin with stanza i., but differ in the choice of stanzas, and range from five in the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Church Hymns, 1871, to eight in the New York Hymns and Songs of Praise, 1874. Although in extensive use in various forms, it is seldom that any two collections have the same arrangement.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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