Scripture Verse

Behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. 1 Samuel 5:4

Introduction

Words & Mu­sic: Alon­zo J. Ab­bey, White Robes (Bo­ston, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Ol­iv­er Dit­son, 1879), page 49 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Ab­bey (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

I often think of hea­then lands,
Far away, far away,
Where many an id­ol tem­ple stands,
Far away;
And there each hap­less child is led
To bow to hea­then gods the head,
While ma­ny a mut­ter­ing charm is said,
Far away, far away.

Oh, how I pi­ty child­ren there,
Far away, far away,
Although the clime be pass­ing fair,
Far away;
I would not leave my hum­ble home,
Midst fields of rich­est flow’rs to roam,
If there no gos­pel sound should come,
Far away, far away.

But I will pray that God will send,
Far away, far away,
Some tid­ings of my Sav­ior friend,
Far away;
And ev­ery lit­tle I can spare
Shall go to send the Bi­ble there,
And men of God the truth to bear,
Far away, far away.

And when the sil­ver trum­pet swells,
Far away, far away,
And all the love of Je­sus tells,
Far away;
The id­ols shall like Da­gon fall,
And ma­ny a child on God shall call,
And own their Sav­ior Lord of all,
Far away, far away.