Scripture Verse

The day of the Lord is at hand. Joel 1:15

Introduction

Words: Hen­ry Bur­ton, 1900. Bur­ton wrote these words at Sands, near Li­ver­pool, Eng­land, on Christ­mas Eve: The op­en­ing stan­za was com­posed on the Rail­way Bridge where I lin­gered on my way home.

Music: Ber­tha W. Hes­lop, in The Pri­mi­tive Me­tho­dist Hym­nal Sup­ple­ment with Tunes, ed­it­ed by George Booth (Lon­don: Pri­mi­tive Me­tho­dist Pub­lish­ing House, 1912), num­ber 59 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

If you know Hes­lop’s full name, or where to get a good pic­ture of him or Bur­ton (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Break, day of God, Oh break,
Sweet light of hea­ven­ly skies!
I all for Thee for­sake,
And from my dead self rise;
O Lamb of God, whose love is light,
Shine on my soul, and all is bright.

Break, day of God, Oh break!
The night has ling­ered long;
Our hearts with sigh­ing wake,
We weep for sin and wrong:
O bright and morn­ing star, draw near;
O Sun of right­eous­ness, ap­pear.

Break, day of God, Oh break!
The earth with strife is worn;
The hills with thun­der shake,
Hearts of the peo­ple mourn;
Break, day of God, sweet day of peace,
And bid the shout of war­ri­ors cease!

Break, day of God, Oh break,
Like to the days above!
Let pu­ri­ty awake,
And faith, and hope, and love:
But lo! we see the bright­en­ing sky;
The gold­en morn is draw­ing nigh.