Scripture Verse

There remaineth…a rest to the people of God. Hebrews 4:9

Introduction

Words: Will­iam B. Tap­pan, 1818. Tap­pan wrote this hymn in Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia, for the Frank­lin Ga­zette. It was pub­lished in the first vol­ume of his Po­ems in 1818.

Music: Wood­land Na­than­iel D. Gould, 1832 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

portrait
William B. Tappan
1794–1849

Lyrics

There is an hour of peace­ful rest,
To mourn­ing wan­der­ers giv­en;
There is a joy for souls dis­tressed,
A balm for ev­ery wound­ed breast,
’Tis found above in Heav’n.

There is a soft, a dow­ny bed,
Far from these shades of ev­en—
A couch for wea­ry mor­tals spread,
Where they may rest the ach­ing head
And find r­epose in Hea­ven.

There is a home for wea­ry souls
By sin and sor­row driv­en;
When tossed on life’s tem­pes­tu­ous shoals,
When storms arise, and ocean rolls,
And all is drear but Heav’n.

There, faith lifts up her cheer­ful eye,
To bright­er pros­pects giv­en;
And views the tem­pest pass­ing by,
The ev­en­ing sha­dows quick­ly fly,
And all se­rene in Heav’n.

There, frag­rant flow­ers, im­mor­tal bloom,
And joys su­preme are give­n;
There, rays di­vine dis­perse the gloom:
Beyond the con­fines of the tomb,
Appears the dawn of Heav’n.