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At Last - Nathan Martin

872 views • Oct 7, 2024

Description

Lyrics- John Greenleaf Whittier When on my day of life the night is falling, And, in the winds from unsunned spaces blown, I hear far voices out of darkness calling My feet to paths unknown- Thou who hast made my home of life so pleasant, Leave not its tenant when its walls decay; O Love Divine, O Helper ever present, Be Thou my strength and stay! Be near me when all else is from me drifting; Earth, sky, home’s pictures, days of shade and shine, And kindly faces to my own uplifting The love which answers mine. I have but Thee, my Father! Let Thy Spirit Be with me then to comfort and uphold; No gate of pearl, no branch of palm I merit, Nor street of shining gold, Nor street of shining gold. Suffice it if (my good and ill unreckoned, And both forgiven through Thy boundless grace) I find myself by hands familiar beckoned Unto my fitting place.
The Historic Faith · Hymn Companion

At Last

Words by John Greenleaf WhittierMusic by Nathan MartinWritten

When on my day of life the night is falling,
And, in the winds from unsunned spaces blown,
I hear far voices out of darkness calling
My feet to paths unknown,

Thou who hast made my home of life so pleasant,
Leave not its tenant when its walls decay;
O Love Divine, O Helper ever present,
Be Thou my strength and stay!

Be near me when all else is from me drifting:
Earth, sky, home's pictures, days of shade and shine,
And kindly faces to my own uplifting
The love which answers mine.

I have but Thee, O Father! Let Thy spirit
Be with me then to comfort and uphold;
No gate of pearl, no branch of palm I merit,
Nor street of shining gold.

Suffice it if—my good and ill unreckoned,
And both forgiven through Thy abounding grace—
I find myself by hands familiar beckoned
Unto my fitting place.

Some humble door among Thy many mansions,
Some sheltering shade where sin and striving cease,
And flows forever through heaven's green expansions
The river of Thy peace.

There, from the music round about me stealing,
I fain would learn the new and holy song,
And find at last, beneath Thy trees of healing,
The life for which I long.

Story Behind the Song

“At Last” is a late devotional poem by the American Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier, written near the end of his life and published among his final poems. The text is a prayer for God’s sustaining presence at death, expressing hope in divine grace rather than personal merit. Nathan Martin’s choral setting uses Whittier’s public-domain poem as its text.