Wesley Corpus

Thro' calumny, and pain, Thro' a long vale of woe, Far from the poisonous sons of men, To purer worlds we go: We shall from Sodom flee, When perfected in love, And haste to better company, Who wait for us above. Page 316 The saints of antient days, We shall with them sit down, Who fought the fight, and run the race, And then receiv'd the crown; Who first severely tried, And exercis'd beneath, Broke thro' the world, with Christ their guide, And more than conquer'd death. The prophets of the Lord, Who suffer'd for his name, Who bore, by fiends and men abhor'd, The Galilean's shame, They that endur'd his cross, And did his cup receive, Of whom the world unworthy was, Were deem'd not fit to live. Swept from the earth away, They join'd the heavenly throng; And now for us their brethren stay, And ever cry, "How long!" Jesus the cry doth hear, And he shall soon return, With endless joy our souls to chear, Who for his coming mourn. Awhile in flesh disjoin'd, Our friends that went before We soon in paradise shall find, And meet to part no more; In yonder blissful seat, Waiting for us they are And, I shall there an husband meet, And I a parent there! Oh! What a mighty change Shall Jesu's sufferers know, While o'er the happy plains we range, Incapable of woe! No ill-requited love Shall there our spirits wound, Page 317 No base ingratitude above, No sin in heaven is found. There all our griefs are spent, There all our sufferings end, We cannot there the fall lament Of a departed friend, A brother, dead to God, By sin, alas! Undone No father there, in passion loud, Cries, Oh! My son, my son! Nor slightest touch of pain, Nor sorrow's least alloy Can violate our rest, or stain Our purity of joy: In that eternal day No clouds or tempests rise; These gushing tears are wiped away Forever from our eyes. This languishing desire Which now for heaven we feel Shall there delightfully expire In joy ineffable: The weight of glorious bliss That to our share shall fall Not angel-tongues can half express; But we shall have it all. Hymns for Christian Friends. Hymn XLIII. At Parting. Part I.