I saw the flock of God, a goodly throng
Of happy people spread in peace abroad
O’er that fair earth in love’s eternal light;
Nor sun or candle do they need; no night
Is there, but endless day — the day of God;
And every heart pours forth eternal song.
A trace of sorrow, death or curse shall ne’er
In that fair land be found; no sculptured stone,
Symbol of crushed and broken hearts; no tears,
No disappointments, no foreboding fears;
No tree with fruit forbidden standing lone,
Nor can the serpent ever enter there.
The hand of God has wiped all tears away;
No more a visitor, as innocence
Might into Eden’s bowers have welcomed Him;
Here shall He dwell unveiled, no distance dim
Between Him and His creature, but from thence
Sons with the Father for eternity.
Jesus is there, well-known in His deep love,
To walk with His redeemed through fields of light;
There shall their hearts with holy joy recall
His cross, His travail sore, his sorrows all
For them endured in love’s eternal might
That He might have them with Himself above.