Scripture Verse

The glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. Revelation 21:23

Introduction

portrait
William O. Cushing
1823–1902

Words: Will­iam O. Cush­ing, 1875. Some hym­nals in­cor­rect­ly give the au­thor as Wal­ter Cush­ing.

Music: Will­iam F. Sher­win (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
William F. Sherwin
1826–1888

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

Lyrics

Beautiful valley of Eden!
Sweet is thy noontide calm;
Over the heart of the weary,
Breathing thy waves of balm.

Refrain

Beautiful valley of Eden,
Home of the pure and blest,
How often amid the wild billows
I dream of thy rest, sweet rest!

Over the heart of the mourner
Shineth thy golden day,
Waiting the songs of the angels
Down from the far away.

Refrain

There is the home of my Savior;
There, with the blood washed throng,
Over the highlands of glory
Rolleth the great new song.

Refrain