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How Far from Home?

Words by Annie R. Smith (1828–1855) · Public domain

The words

  1. Stanza 1. How far from home? I asked, as onI bent my steps—the watchman spake:“The long, dark night is almost gone,The morning soon will break.Then weep no more, but speed thy flight,With Hope’s bright star thy guiding ray,Till thou shalt reach the realms of light,In everlasting day.”

  2. Stanza 2. I asked the warrior on the field:This was his soul-inspiring song:“With courage, bold, the sword I’ll wield,The battle is not long.Then weep no more, but well endureThe conflict, till thy work is done;For this we know, the prize is sure,When victory is won.”

  3. Stanza 3. I asked again; earth, sea, and sunSeemed, with one voice, to make reply:“Time’s wasting sands are nearly run,Eternity is nigh.Then weep no more—with warning tonesPortentious signs are thick’ning round,The whole creation, waiting, groans,To hear the trumpet sound.”

  4. Stanza 4. Not far from home! O blessed thought!The trav’ler’s lonely heart to cheer;Which oft a healing balm has brought,And dried the mourner’s tear.Then weep no more, since we shall meetWhere weary footsteps never roam—Our trials past, our joys complete,Safe in our Father’s home.

Text as printed in Christ in Song (Revised and Enlarged), 1908, no. 845. Public domain. www.praylock.com/hymnal/how-far-from-home

About this text

Words
Annie R. Smith, 1828–1855
Source
Christ in Song (Revised and Enlarged) (1908), no. 845. See the 1908 page
Credited in 1908 as
Annie R. Smith
This wording in print by
1886 (The Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book)
Public domain
Printed in 1908; the writer died in 1855, more than 100 years ago.

Notes on this text

  • Annie R. Smith died in 1855. This hymn was in the Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book by 1886 and is still in the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal (1985).
  • The 1908 score prints each stanza as four long lines; they are shown here as the poem’s eight lines.

Index entry: Hymnary.org. Checked against the page scan on .

More hymns

All 12 hymns from 1908Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal index

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