Ages ago in the east­ern lands,
They watched for Him,
Listening for His cha­ri­ot wheels,
As the days grew dim, and won­dered the year
He would come again, from Ol­iv­et;
With wel­com­ing words on their lips they watched,
But He tar­ries yet.

Refrain

He tar­ries yet, He tar­ries yet,
With wel­com­ing words on their lips they watched,
But He tar­ries yet.

Every year across win­ter snows,
With wist­ful eyes,
Eager dis­ci­ples have watched for Him,
Coming from the skies;
And ev­ery year un­der sum­mer suns,
They have sung His praise,
And cried for Him from their yearn­ing hearts,
But He still de­lays.

Refrain

Sometimes we look at the fleet­ing clouds,
And in fan­cy trace
Bright shin­ing robes, and the feet of brass,
And His glo­ri­ous face;
And hold­ing our breath when the gleam­ing comes,
We can al­most hear
The soul thrill­ing sound of His bless­èd voice,
This wait­ing time.

Refrain

Take cour­age, bro­thers—we have His word,
And He will not fail;
Let us be pa­tient and watch and wait,
’Till our pray­ers pre­vail:
He sure­ly will come as He said He would,
In a light sub­lime,
And we shall for­get as we see His face,
This wait­ing time.

This wai­ting time, this wait­ing time,
And we shall for­get as we see His face,
This wait­ing time.