Hark, the alarm, the clang of the bells

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Hark, the alarm, the clang of the bells

Author: P. P. Bliss
Tune: [Hark! the alarm, the clang of the bells!]
Published in 2 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, Noteworthy Composer
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 Hark! the alarm, the clang of the bells!
Signal of danger, it rises and swells;
Flashes like lightning illumine the sky,
See the red glare as the flames mount on high.

Refrain:
Roll on, roll on, O billow of fire!
Dash, with thy fury-waves higher and higher;
Ours is a mansion abiding and sure;
Ours is a kingdom eternal, secure.

2 Oh, like a fiend in its towering wrath,
On, and destruction alone points the path;
"Mercy, O Heaven," the sufferers wail,
Feeble humanity naught can avail. [Refrain]

3 Thousands are homeless, and quick to their cry,
Heaven-born charity yields a supply;
Upward we glance in our terrible grief,
"Give us this day," brings the promised relief. [Refrain]

4 Treasures have vanished, and riches have flown,
Hopes for the earth-life are blasted and gone;
Courage, O brother yield not to despair:
"God is our refuge," His kingdom we share. [Refrain]

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #12247

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Author: P. P. Bliss

Philip P. Bliss (b. Clearfield County, PA, 1838; d. Ashtabula, OH, 1876) left home as a young boy to make a living by working on farms and in lumber camps, all while trying to continue his schooling. He was converted at a revival meeting at age twelve. Bliss became an itinerant music teacher, making house calls on horseback during the winter, and during the summer attending the Normal Academy of Music in Genesco, New York. His first song was published in 1864, and in 1868 Dwight L. Moody advised him to become a singing evangelist. For the last two years of his life Bliss traveled with Major D. W. Whittle and led the music at revival meetings in the Midwest and Southern United States. Bliss and Ira D. Sankey published a popular series of hym… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Hark, the alarm, the clang of the bells
Author:	P. P. Bliss
Language:	English
Refrain First Line:	Roll on, roll on, O billow of fire
Copyright:	Public Domain