Christ My Song - 753
Where the faded flower shall freshen - The meeting-place
(Horatius Bonar/Johannes Thomas Rüegg)
The meeting-place.
1. Where the faded flower shall freshen,
freshen never more to fade;
where the shaded sky shall brighten,
brighten never more to shade:
where the sun-blaze never scorches;
where the star-beams cease to chill;
where no tempest stirs the echoes
of the wood, or wave, or hill:
where the morn shall wake in gladness,
and the noon the joy prolong;
where the daylight dies in fragrance,
'mid the burst of holy song:
brother, we shall meet and rest
'mid the holy and the blessed! (PDF - Midi)
2. Where no shadow shall bewilder,
where life's vain parade is o'er,
where the sleep of sin is broken,
and the dreamer dreams no more:
where no bond is ever sundered;
partings, claspings, sob and moan,
midnight walking, twilight weeping,
heavy noontide – all are done:
where the child has found its mother,
where the mother finds the child,
where dear families are gathered,
that where scattered on the wild:
brother, we shall meet and rest
'mid the holy and the blessed!
3. Where the hidden wound is healèd,
where the blighted life re-blooms,
where the smitten heart the freshness
of its buoyant youth resumes;
where the love that here we lavish
on the withering leaves of time,
shall have fadeless flowers to fix on
in an ever spring-bright clime:
where we find the joy of loving,
as we never loved before,
loving on, unchilled, unhindered,
loving once and evermore:
brother, we shall meet and rest
'mid the holy and the blessed!
4. Where a blasted world shall brighten
underneath a bluer sphere,
and a softer, gentler sunshine
shed its healing splendour here:
where earth's barren vales shall blossom,
putting on their robe of green,
and a purer, fairer Eden
be where only wastes have been:
where a King in kingly glory,
such as earth hath never known,
shall assume the righteous sceptre,
claim and wear the holy crown:
brother, we shall meet and rest
'mid the holy and the blessed.
Horatius Bonar, Hymns of Faith and Hope I, 1878, 3-5.