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O God, Above the Drifting Years

Representative Text

1. O God, above the drifting years,
The shrines our fathers founded stand,
And where the higher gain appears,
We trace the working of Thy hand.

2. From out their tireless prayer and toil
Emerge the gifts that time has proved,
And seed laid deep in sacred soil,
Yields harvests rich in lasting good.

3. The torch of their devotion lent,
Lightens the dark that round us lies;
Help us to pass it on unspent,
Until the dawn lights up the skies.

4. Form Thou our hearts with faith like theirs,
Who served the days they could not see,
And give us grace, through ampler years,
To build the kingdom yet to be.

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #4831

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Author: John Wright Buckham

Buckham, John Wright, D.D., an American Congregational minister, born at Burlington, Vt., in 1864, and educated at the University of Vermont. Pastor in Conway, N.H., and Salem, Mass., Professor of Christian Theology, Pacific Theological Seminary, Berkely, Cal., 1903, D.D. Univ. of Vermont, 1904. His hymn, "Hills of God, break forth in singing" (Christmas), appeared in Whence cometh Help, 1902. Included in The Pilgrim Hymnal, 1904. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)  Go to person page >

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Text Information

First Line: O God, above the drifting years
Title: O God, Above the Drifting Years
Author: John Wright Buckham (1916)
Language: English
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Tune

DUKE STREET

First published anonymously in Henry Boyd's Select Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1793), DUKE STREET was credited to John Hatton (b. Warrington, England, c. 1710; d, St. Helen's, Lancaster, England, 1793) in William Dixon's Euphonia (1805). Virtually nothing is known about Hatton, its composer,…

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FEDERAL STREET

Henry Kemble Oliver (b. Beverly, MA, 1800; d. Salem, MA, 1885) composed FEDERAL STREET in 1832, possibly as an imitation of earlier psalm tunes in long meter. He took it to a music class taught by Lowell Mason (who may have contributed to the harmony); Mason (PHH 96) published it in his Boston Acade…

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MELCOMBE (Webbe)

Also known as: ST. PHILIPS BENEDICTION GRANTON NAZARETH MELCOMBE was first used as an anonymous chant tune (with figured bass) in the Roman Catholic Mass and was published in 1782 in An Essay on the Church Plain Chant. It was first ascribed to Samuel Webbe (the elder; b. London, England, 1740; d.…

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Timeline

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Media

The Cyber Hymnal #4831
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)
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Instances

Instances (1 - 1 of 1)
TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #4831

The Cyber Hymnal #4831
Include 7 pre-1979 instances
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