A Little While

O for the Peace which floweth like a river

Author: Mrs. T. D. Crewdson
Published in 69 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 Oh, for the peace which floweth like a river,
Making life's desert places bloom and smile!
Oh, for the faith to grasp heaven's bright "for ever,"
Amid the shadows of earth's "little while!"

2 A little while for patient vigil-keeping,
To face the storm, to battle with the strong;
A little while to sow the seed with weeping,
Then bind the sheaves and sing the harvest song!

3 A little while to keep the oil from failing,
A little while faith's flickering lamp to trim;
And then, the Bridegroom's coming footsteps hailing,
To haste to meet him with the bridal hymn!

4 And he who is himself the gift and giver,
The future glory and the present smile,
With the bright promise of the glad "for ever"
Will light the shadows of the "little while!"

Source: Laudes Domini: a selection of spiritual songs, ancient and modern for use in the prayer-meeting #410

Author: Mrs. T. D. Crewdson

Crewdson, Jane, née Fox, daughter of George Fox, of Perraw, Cornwall, was born at Perraw, October, 1809; married to Thomas Crewdson, of Manchester, 1836; and died at Summerlands, near Manchester, Sept. 14, 1863. During a long illness Mrs. Crewdson composed her works published as:— (1) Lays of the Reformation, 1860. (2) A Little While, and Other Poems (posthumous), 1864. (3) The Singer of Eisenach, n.d.; and (4) Aunt Jane's Verses for Children, 1851. 2nd ed. 1855, 3rd 1871. From these works nearly a dozen of her hymns have come into common use. The best known are, "O for the peace which floweth as a river," and "There is no sorrow, Lord, too light." In addition to these and others which are annotated under their respective first line… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: O for the Peace which floweth like a river
Title: A Little While
Author: Mrs. T. D. Crewdson
Meter: 11.10.11.10
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

O for the peace which floweth as a river. Jane Crewdson, née Fox. [Hoping and Trusting to the end.] Published in her posthumous work, A Little While, and Other Poems, 1864, as the opening hymn of the volume, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. It is found in full or in part in a large number of hymn books in Great Britain and America, and is much esteemed as a hymn for private use.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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The Cyber Hymnal #3813

Include 68 pre-1979 instances
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