For Thee, O Dear, Dear Country

Verse 1

For thee, O dear, dear country,
Mine eyes their vigils keep;
For very love beholding
Thy happy name, they weep:
The mention of thy glory
Is unction to the breast,
And medicine in sickness,
And love, and life, and rest.

Verse 2

O one, O only mansion!
O Paradise of joy!
Where tears are ever banished,
And smiles have no alloy;
Thy loveliness oppresses
All human thought and heart,
And none, O Peace, O Zion,
Can sing thee as thou art.

Verse 3

With jaspers glow thy bulwarks,
Thy streets with emeralds blaze;
The sardius and the topaz
Unite in thee their rays;
Thine ageless walls are bonded
With amethysts unpriced;
Thy saints build up its fabric,
And the corner-stone is Christ.

Verse 4

The cross is all thy splendor,
The Crucified thy praise;
His laud and benediction
Thy ransomed people raise:
Upon the Rock of Ages
They build thy holy tower;
Thine is the victor’s laurel,
And thine the golden dower.

Verse 5

O sweet and blessed country,
The home of God’s elect!
O sweet and blessed country
That eager hearts expect!
Jesus, in mercy bring us
To that dear land of rest;
Who art, with God the Father,
And Spirit, ever blest.