Prescott (The Better Land)

Instrumentation: Recorders
Time: 1:12
Download: Music (mp3) | Score (png)

1. I would not live alway—I ask not to stay,
Where storm after storm rises dark o’er the way;
The few lurid mornings that dawn on us here,
Are enough for life’s woes, full enough for its cheer.

2. I would not live alway, thus fetter’d by sin,
Temptation without, and corruption within;
E’en the rapture of pardon is mingled with fears,
And the cup of thanksgiving with penitent tears.

3. I would not live alway—no, welcome the tomb!
Since Jesus hath lain there, I dread not its gloom;
There sweet be my rest, till He bid me arise,
To hail Him in triumph descending the skies.

Details
Author: W.A. Muhlenberg (1796-1877)
Composer: George Oates (southernized by Wm. Houser)
Meter: 11s
Hesperian Harp: Page 347