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Home  »  The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century  »  William Walsham How (1823–1897)

Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.

By Hymns. IV. The New Jerusalem

William Walsham How (1823–1897)

  • “The kingdom of God is within you.”
  • —St. Luke xvii. 21.

  • THE CITY paved with gold,

    Bright with each dazzling gem!

    When shall our eyes behold

    The new Jerusalem?

    Yet lo! e’en now in viewless might

    Uprise the walls of living light!

    The kingdom of the Lord!

    It cometh not with show:

    Nor throne, nor crown, nor sword,

    Proclaim its might below.

    Though dimly scanned through mists of sin,

    The Lord’s true kingdom is within!

    The gates of pearl are there

    In penitential tears:

    Bright as a jewel rare

    Each saintly grace appears:

    We track the path saints trod of old,

    And lo! the pavement is of gold!

    The living waters flow

    That fainting souls may drink;

    The mystic fruit-trees grow

    Along the river’s brink:

    We taste e’en now the water sweet,

    And of the Tree of Life we eat.

    Not homeless wanderers here

    Our exile songs we sing;

    Thou art our home most dear,

    Thou city of our King!

    Thy future bliss we cannot tell,

    Content in Thee on earth we dwell.

    Build, Lord, the mystic walls!

    Throw wide the unseen gates!

    Fill all the golden halls,

    While yet Thy triumph waits!

    Make glad Thy Church with light and love,

    Till glorified it shines above!