Scripture Verse

[Jesus] was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him. Matthew 17:2–3

Introduction

portrait
Harriet M. Kimball (1834–1917)

Words: Har­ri­et M. Kim­ball, Po­ems (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Lit­tle, Brown, 1911), pag­es 122–23.

Music: De­Pauw Ro­bert G. Mc­Cutch­an, 1930 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Lyrics

Fair mount where Je­sus knelt and prayed,
What splen­dor crowned thy ho­ly crest
When to His fol­low­ers He re­vealed
The God­head they by faith con­fessed!

Bright as the sun His face they saw,
White as the light His gar­ments gleamed;
Transfigured He trans­fig­ured all
The place whereon His ra­di­ance streamed.

With earth so far, and Heav’n so near
What won­der they were fain to stay;
And Mo­ses and Eli­as came
By that great vi­sion rapt as they!

What won­der, while with them He spake
And ov­er­head the cloud ap­peared
And from its glo­ry came the voice,
That they who heard it great­ly feared!

The glo­ry waned, the saints of old
Departed by the ways un­known.
And looking up, the pros­trate three
Beheld their bless­èd Lord alone.

No more that vi­sion may re­turn,
The cloud ap­pear, the voice be heard;
But by that one trans­cend­ent scene
The heart of faith is ev­er stirred.

And though we see Thee not, O Lord,
Thy pre­sence faith­ful souls pe­rceive,
And bless­èd they, as Thou hast said.
Who have not seen and yet be­lieve.

illustration
The Transfiguration
Carl H. Bloch (1834–1890)