Scripture Verse

He bearing His cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha. John 19:17

Introduction

Words: W. Dex­ter Smith, Jr., Dex­ter Smith’s Po­ems (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: G. D. Rus­sell, 1868), page 10.

Music: Du­brov­nik, ano­ny­mous, in Spark­ling Dia­monds, ed­it­ed by Le­on­ard Mar­shall (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: White, Smith, 1884), page 108 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
W. Dexter Smith, Jr. (1839–1909)

Lyrics

There is a cross of hea­vy weight,
For ev­ery hu­man life to bear;
There is a chap­let formed of thorns
For each and ev­ery brow to wear.
Oh! when the cross of pain and woe
Shall soon for­ev­er be laid down,
May we re­ceive in re­com­pense,
A beau­ti­ful and fade­less crown.

A cross of toil and world­ly grief,
A bur­den of sus­pense and care,
Has life im­posed up­on us all,
And each its hea­vy load must bear.
The clouds may low­er ov­er­head,
The bright stars fade be­fore our eyes,
Yet faith shall point us out the path
Where sac­ri­fice, where du­ty lies.

A crown awaits each faith­ful heart,
Each ear­nest, self de­ny­ing soul,
That car­ries cheer­ful­ly the cross,
To death’s cold, un­re­lent­ing goal.
And where the veil shall melt away,
Disclosing Hea­ven’s end­less bliss;
The crown of love shall com­pen­sate
The cross of such a life as this.