“WHEN JESUS COMES.”
Down life's dark vale we wander
Till Jesus comes;
We watch and wait and wonder
Till Jesus comes.
Both words and music are by Mr. Bliss. A relative of his family, J.S. Ellsworth, says the song was written in Peoria, Illinois, in 1872, and was suggested by a conversation on the second coming of Christ, a subject very near his heart. The thought lingered in his mind, and as he came down from his room, soon after, the verses and notes came to him simultaneously on the stairs. Singing them over, he seized pencil and paper, and in a few minutes fixed hymn and tune in the familiar harmony so well known.
No more heart-pangs nor sadness
When Jesus comes;
All peace and joy and gladness
When Jesus comes.
The choral abounds in repetition, and is half refrain, but among all Gospel Hymns remarkable for their tone-delivery this is unsurpassed in the swing of its rhythm.
All joy his loved ones bringing
When Jesus comes.
All praise thro' heaven ringing
When Jesus comes.
All beauty bright and vernal
When Jesus comes.
All glory grand, eternal
When Jesus comes.