1 I love yon pale blue sky; it is the floor
Of that glad home where I shall shortly be;
A home from which I shall go out no more;
From toil and grief and vanity set free.
2 I gaze upon yon everlasting arch,
Up which the bright stars wander, as they shine;
And as I mark them in their nightly march,
I think how soon that journey shall be mine!
3 Yon silver drift of silent cloud, far up
In the still heav’n—through you my pathway lies:
Yon rugged mountain peak—how soon your top
Shall I behold beneath me, as I rise!
4 Not many more of life’s slow pacing hours,
Shaded with sorrow’s melancholy hue—
Oh, what a glad ascending shall be ours,
Oh, what a pathway up yon starry blue!
5 A journey like Elijah’s, swift and bright,
Caught gently upward to an early crown,
In Heaven’s own chariot of all-blazing light,
With death untasted and the grave unknown.
Source: The Cyber Hymnal #9557
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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