407b. For thee, O dear, dear country

1 For thee, O dear, dear country,
Mine eyes their vigils keep;
For very love, beholding
Thy holy name, they weep.
The mention of thy glory
Is unction to the breast,
And medicine in sickness,
And love, and life, and rest.

2 O one, O only mansion!
O Paradise of joy!
Where tears are ever banished
And smiles have no alloy;
Thy loveliness oppresses
All human thought and heart,
And none, O Peace, O Sion
Can sing thee as thou art.

3 With jaspers glow thy bulwarks,
Thy streets with emeralds blaze;
The sardius and the topaz
Unite in Thee their rays;
Thine ageless walls are bonded
With amethyst unpriced;
The saints build up its fabric,
And the corner stone is Christ.

4 The cross is all thy splendor,
The Crucified thy praise;
His laud and benediction
Thy ransomed people raise;
Upon the Rock of Ages
They build thy holy tower;
Thine is the victor's laurel,
And thine the golden dower.

Amen.

Text Information
First Line: For thee, O dear, dear country
Title: For thee, O dear, dear country
Author: Bernard of Cluny (1145)
Translator: Rev. J. M. Neale (1858)
Meter: 7. 6. D.
Language: English
Publication Date: 1894
Topic: General; Processional; Church Triumphant (1 more...)
Notes: Part III. Tune name in index: EDWARDS
Tune Information
Name: [For thee, O dear, dear country]
Composer: Peter C. Edwards, Jr.
Meter: 7. 6. D.
Key: D Major



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