The words were written by Rev. John Atkinson, D.D., in January, 1867, soon after the death of his mother. He had been engaged in revival work and one night in his study, “that song, in substance, seemed,” he says, “to sing itself into my heart.” He said to himself, “I would better write it down, or I shall lose it.”
“There,” he adds, “in the silence of my study, and not far from midnight, I wrote the hymn.”
We shall meet beyond the river
By and by, by and by;
And the darkness will be over
By and by, by and by.
With the toilsome journey done,
And the glorious battle won.
We shall shine forth as the sun
By and by, by and by.