From distant shores returning

Representative Text

1 From distant shores returning,
The pilgrim journeys home;
For rest His soul is yearning,
He would no longer roam.

2 A flowered grave encloses
What he had held so dear;
He sees the wilting roses,
And looks beyond for cheer.

3 Great cities often glory
In boundless wealth of gold,
But soon the doleful story
Of their decay is told.

4 The harps sweet tones are waning
Upon the silent air,
Nor day nor night retaining
That melody so fair.

5 The pilgrim who the pleasures
Of yonder world can taste,
Cares naught for earthly treasures,
That soon will go to waste.

6 He longs for things immortal,
For joys that ne'er decay,
And so to heaven's portal
He fondly wends his way.

Source: American Lutheran Hymnal #644

Translator: Hermann Brueckner

Born: March 11, 1866, Grundy County, Iowa (birth name: Herman Heinrich Moritz Brueckner). Died: January 25, 1942, Hebron, Nebraska (funeral held in Beatrice, Nebraska). Buried: St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery, Waverly, Iowa. After ordination in 1888, Brueckner pastored in Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. He later moved to Iowa City, Iowa, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Iowa State University in 1917. In 1926, he joined the faculty of Hebron College in Nebraska. In 1938, Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, conferred an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on him. He retired as professor emeritus from Hebron College in 1941. Sources: Erickson, p. 254 Findagrave, accessed 14 Nov 2016 Hustad, p. 213 Stulken, p.… Go to person page >

Author: Christian Gottlob Barth

Barth, Christian Gottlob, son of C. F. Barth, house painter in Stuttgart, was born at Stuttgart, July 31,1799. He studied at Tubingen, where he was the principal founder of the Missionary Society, and was only restrained by his mother's entreaties from offering himself as a missionary. He became, in 1821, assistant at Neckarweihingen and Dornham, and, in 1822, curate in charge of Effringen and Schönbrunn, near Nagold. In 1824 he was appointed pastor of Möttlingen, near Calw, but resigned his charge in 1838, and settled in Calw, receiving in the same year the degree of D.D. from the University.of Greifswald. He died at Calw of apoplexy, Nov. 12, 1862. At Calw he devoted himself as a writer and preacher to children, as a preacher and writer… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: From distant shores returning
German Title: Der Pilger aus der Ferne
Translator: Hermann Brueckner
Author: Christian Gottlob Barth
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

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American Lutheran Hymnal #644

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Wartburg Hymnal #353

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