Watchman! tell us of the night

Watchman! tell us of the night

Author: John Bowring (1825)
Published in 775 hymnals

Piano/Organ

Promise of Peace

Instrumental

PROCESSIONAL IN C

Choral

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Full Text

1 Watchman, tell us of the night,
What its signs of promise are.
Traveler, o'er yon mountain's height,
See that glory-beaming star.
Watchman, does its beauteous ray
Aught of joy or hope foretell?
Traveler, yes; it brings the day,
Promised day of Israel.

2 Watchman, tell us of the night;
Higher yet that star ascends.
Traveler, blessedness and light,
Peace and truth its course portends.
Watchman, will its beams alone
Gild the spot that gave them birth?
Traveler, ages are its own;
See, it bursts o'er all the earth.

3 Watchman, tell us of the night,
For the morning seems to dawn.
Traveler, darkness takes its flight,
Doubt and terror are withdrawn.
Watchman, let thy wanderings cease;
Hasten to your quiet home.
Traveler, lo! the Prince of Peace,
Lo! the Son of God is come!



Source: Presbyterian Hymnal #20

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Author: John Bowring

James Bowring was born at Exeter, in 1792. He possessed at an early age a remarkable power of attaining languages, and acquired some reputation by his metrical translations of foreign poems. He became editor of "The Westminster Review" in 1825, and was elected to Parliament in 1835. In 1849, he was appointed Consul at Canton, and in 1854, was made Governor of Hong Kong, and received the honour of knighthood. He is the author of some important works on politics and travel, and is the recipient of several testimonials from foreign governments and societies. His poems and hymns have also added to his reputation. His "Matins and Vespers" have passed through many editions. In religion he is a Unitarian. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charl… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Related Texts

First Line: Watchman! tell us of the night
Author: John Bowring (1825)
Language: English
Refrain First Line: Traveler, yes, it brings the day
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Notes

Watchman! tell us of the nigh. Sir J. Bowring. [Advent.] First published in his Hymns, 1825, No. 59, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines. It is found in several modern hymnals, including Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, &c.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

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Tune

WATCHMAN (Mason)


ABERYSTWYTH

Joseph Parry (b. Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire, Wales, 1841; d. Penarth, Glamorganshire, 1903) was born into a poor but musical family. Although he showed musical gifts at an early age, he was sent to work in the puddling furnaces of a steel mill at the age of nine. His family immigrated to a Welsh…

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ST. GEORGE'S WINDSOR (Elvey)

George J. Elvey (PHH 48) composed ST. GEORGE'S WINDSOR as a setting for James Montgomery's text "Hark! The Song of Jubilee," with which it was published in Edward H. Thorne's Selection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1858). The tune has been associated with Alford's text since publication of the hymn in th…

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Timeline

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Instances

Instances (5)TextImageAudioScore
Hymnal 1982: according to the use of the Episcopal Church #640TextImage
Presbyterian Hymnal #20TextImage
Rejoice in the Lord #168Text
The New Century Hymnal #103Image
Worship in Song: A Friends Hymnal #58
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