Scripture Verse

Introduction

Origin of the Hymn

One day in 1875 I was reach­ing up for a bless­ing, says the au­thor of these words, “when sud­den­ly there came down up­on my heart a vi­sion of the heav­en­ly coun­try. I seemed to look down up­on a ri­ver that like a migh­ty tide rolled be­neath me.

“Across, on the oth­er side of this ri­ver, I saw an en­chant­ed land; its hills and val­leys were sleep­ing in a heav­en­ly calm. It was more beau­ti­ful than words can tell, and my heart seemed to be there.

“As I gazed up­on the scene, there came to my lips the words, ‘Beau­ti­ful val­ley of Eden.’ The vi­sion re­mained un­til I had writ­ten down the hymn; then it grad­u­al­ly fad­ed from my sight.

But I want to say that the beau­ty of the hymn is large­ly due to Mr. Sher­win, who, by his rich me­lo­dy, has reached a deep­er chord than any mere words could ev­er have reached.

Sankey, p. 121