I’m bound for the promised land.
The verse was mastered probably by comparatively few singers, even though it may have been “lined out” by the song leader. But the whole assemblage had its chance to join lustily in singing the chorus.
A simpler form of spiritual song went directly into a refrain after the first text couplet:
O when shall I see Jesus
And dwell with him above,
And shall hear the trumpet sound
In that morning.
And from the flowing fountain
Drink everlasting love,
And shall hear the trumpet sound