Beulah Land demo

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Rosa Celeste: Dante and Beatrice gaze upon the highest Heaven, The Empyrean
A while back I found an old hymnal from the early 1900’s that had a number of songs I had never seen in any modern hymnal. I’ve been working on new melodies for a few of them, and Beulah Land by Edgar Stites (1876) is one of them. My wife made the comment that she liked this one because of its warmth and homey-ness, not because of some great theological depth that we often think of hymns providing. But if thoughts of Heaven make us warm and feel at home, then Amen. That’s good theology right there.

Here’s a demo of the first verse I made using my new fancy Garageband app on my phone (so pardon the quality).

Beulah Land – Verse 1

I’ve reached the land of corn and wine,
And all its riches freely mine;
Here shines undimmed one blissful day,
For all my night has passed away.

Refrain

O Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land,
As on thy highest mount I stand,
I look away across the sea,
Where mansions are prepared for me,
And view the shining glory shore,
My Heav’n, my home forever more!

My Savior comes and walks with me,
And sweet communion here have we;
He gently leads me by His hand,
For this is Heaven’s border land.

Refrain

A sweet perfume upon the breeze,
Is borne from ever vernal trees,
And flow’rs, that never fading grow
Where streams of life forever flow.

Refrain

The zephyrs seem to float to me,
Sweet sounds to Heaven’s melody,
As angels with the white robed throng
Join in the sweet redemption song.

Refrain

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

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This carol, one of my favorites, was written as a poem during the American Civil War by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow after his son was injured fighting for the Union army. Interestingly, two verses are usually left out of our modern singings that refer explicitly to the North/South conflict (included below). Longfellow wrote the poem on Christmas Day. As Hate did its best to silence the chiming bells with cannon fire and the splitting of a Nation on both sides, they burst forth with peals of hope proclaiming that God is alive and with us, and they echo through time to us now, reminding us once again this Advent that, at the Last Day, “the Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail, with peace on Earth, goodwill to Men.”

Pedro the Lion’s version, singing the John Calkin tune, is good stuff:

I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day – Pedro The Lion from Nolan Gray on Vimeo.

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn, the households born
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”