A Few More Years Shall Roll

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A few more years shall roll

Author: Horatius Bonar (1844)
Published in 378 hymnals

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Representative Text

1 A few more years shall roll,
a few more seasons come,
and we shall be with those that rest
asleep within the tomb.

Refrain:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
my soul for that blest day;
O wash me in your precious blood,
and take my sins away.

2 A few more suns shall set
o'er these dark hills of time,
and we shall be where suns are not,
a far serener clime. [Refrain]

3 A few more storms shall beat
on this wild, rocky shore,
and we shall be where tempests cease,
and surges swell no more. [Refrain]

4 A few more struggles here,
a few more partings o'er,
a few more toils, a few more tears,
and we shall weep no more. [Refrain]

5 'Tis but a little while
and he shall come again,
who died that we might live with him,
who lives that we might reign. [Refrain]

Source: Christian Worship: Hymnal #492

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Author: Horatius Bonar

Horatius Bonar was born at Edinburgh, in 1808. His education was obtained at the High School, and the University of his native city. He was ordained to the ministry, in 1837, and since then has been pastor at Kelso. In 1843, he joined the Free Church of Scotland. His reputation as a religious writer was first gained on the publication of the "Kelso Tracts," of which he was the author. He has also written many other prose works, some of which have had a very large circulation. Nor is he less favorably known as a religious poet and hymn-writer. The three series of "Hymns of Faith and Hope," have passed through several editions. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872… Go to person page >

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First Line:	A few more years shall roll
Title:	A Few More Years Shall Roll
Author:	Horatius Bonar (1844)
Meter:	6.6.8.6 D
Language:	English
Refrain First Line:	O wash me in thy precious blood
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

A few more years shall roll. H. Bonar. [0ld and New Year.] Written about the year 1842, and first printed on a flyleaf for use by the members of his congregation on a New Year's Day. In 1844 it was published in No. 2 of his Songs for the Wilderness, again in the first series of Hymns of Faith and Hope 1857, p. 101; and later editions. It is in 6 stanzas of 8 lines, S.M., and entitled, "A Pilgrim's Song." Its use in all English-speaking countries, either in its full, or in an abbreviated form, is very extensive. In some cases its exquisite refrain, with its delicate changes:—

"Then, 0 my Lord, prepare
My soul for that great day;
0 wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away,"

is omitted, and it is thereby robbed of one of its most beautiful and striking features.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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Tune

CHALVEY

LEOMINSTER (Martin)

George William Martin (b. London, England, 1825; d. London, 1881) composed LEOMINSTER, named for a town in the county of Hereford and Worcester (formerly Herefordshire), England. The tune was first published in The Journal of Part Music (vol. 2, 1862), in which it was titled THE PILGRIM'S SONG. Mart…

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