“NOT HALF HAS EVER BEEN TOLD”
This is emotional, but every word and note is uplifting, and creates the mood for religious impressions. The writer, Rev. John Bush Atchison, was born at Wilson, N.Y., Feb. 18, 1840, and died July 15, 1882.
I have read of a beautiful city
Far away in the kingdom of God,
I have read how its walls are of jasper,
How its streets are all golden and broad;
In the midst of the street is Life's River
Clear as crystal and pure to behold,
But not half of that city's bright glory
To mortals has ever been told.
The chorus (twice sung)—
Not half has been told,
—concludes with repeat of the two last lines of this first stanza.
Mr. Atchison was a Methodist clergyman who composed several good hymns. “Behold the Stone is Rolled Away,” “O Crown of Rejoicing,” and “Fully Persuaded,” indicate samples of his work more or less well-known. “Not Half Has Ever Been Told” was written in 1875.