The Meeting Place

lyricist: Horatius Bonar, 1857
Composer: Philip Phillips, 1893

Where the faded flow­er shall fresh­en—

Freshen nev­er more to fade;

Where the shad­ed sky shall bright­en—

Brighten nev­er more to shade:

Where the sun blaze nev­er scorch­es;

Where the star beams cease to chill;

Where no tem­pest stirs the ech­oes

Of the wood

or wave

or hill;

Where the morn shall wake in glad­ness

And the noon the joy pro­long

Where the day­light dies in frag­rance

’Mid the burst of ho­ly song:

Brother

we shall meet and rest

’Mid the ho­ly and the blest!

Where no sha­dow shall be­wil­der

When life’s vain pa­rade is o’er

Where the sleep of sin is brok­en

And the dream­er dreams no more:

Where the bond is nev­er sev­ered;

Parting

clasp­ings

sob and moan

Midnight wak­ing

twi­light weep­ing

Heavy noon­tide—all are done:

Where the child has found its mo­ther

Where the mo­ther finds the child

Where dear fa­mi­lies are ga­thered

That were scat­tered on the wild:

Where the hid­den wound is heal­èd

Where the blight­ed life re-blooms

Where the smit­ten heart the fresh­ness

Of its buoy­ant youth re­sumes:

Where the love that here we lav­ish

On the wi­ther­ing leaves of time

Shall have fade­less flow­ers to fix on

In an ev­er spring-bright clime:

Where we find the joy of lov­ing

As we nev­er loved be­fore—

Loving on

un­chilled

un­hin­dered

Loving once and ev­er­more:

Where a blast­ed world shall bright­en

Underneath a blu­er sphere

And a soft­er

gent­ler sun­shine

Shed its heal­ing splen­dor here:

Where earth’s bar­ren vales shall blos­som

Putting on their robe of green

And a pur­er

fair­er Ed­en

Be where on­ly was­tes have been:

Where a king in king­ly glo­ry

Such as earth has nev­er known

Shall as­sume the right­eous scep­ter

Claim and wear the ho­ly crown:

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