“Beyond the smiling and the weeping”

Horatius Bonar (1808–1889)

BEYOND the smiling and the weeping

I shall be soon;

Beyond the waking and the sleeping,

Beyond the sowing and the reaping,

I shall be soon.

Love, rest, and home!

Sweet hope!

Lord, tarry not, but come.

Beyond the blooming and the fading

I shall be soon;

Beyond the shining and the shading,

Beyond the hoping and the dreading,

I shall be soon.
Love, rest, and home! etc.

Beyond the rising and the setting

I shall be soon;

Beyond the calming and the fretting,

Beyond remembering and forgetting,

I shall be soon.
Love, rest, and home! etc.

Beyond the gathering and the strowing

I shall be soon;

Beyond the ebbing and the flowing,

Beyond the coming and the going,

I shall be soon.
Love, rest, and home! etc.

Beyond the parting and the meeting

I shall be soon;

Beyond the farewell and the greeting,

Beyond this pulse’s fever beating,

I shall be soon.
Love, rest, and home! etc.

Beyond the frost chain and the fever

I shall be soon;

Beyond the rock waste and the river,

Beyond the ever and the never,

I shall be soon.

Love, rest, and home!

Sweet hope!

Lord, tarry not, but come.