I Blog Poetry and Prose

Soundtrak of Your Life: Day 13 - Battle Hymn of the Republic

Istijlál (Majesty), 7 Mulk (Dominion) 176 B.E. - Thursday, February 13, 2020

Artist: First Dallas Choir & Orchestra
Title: Battle Hymn of the Republic

Lyrics: First Published Version1

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, Glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal";
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies[14] Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,[15]
While God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.

Lyrics: Original Final Verse2

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,
Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on!

The Battle Hymn of the Republic is one of those songs that sounds better when sung by a choir, with a full band accompanying it, which isn't how I first heard the song. The first time I heard this song was in a Sunday service held in the First Southern Baptist Mission in Blackwell, Oklahoma. At that time the Mission--as those of us who attended services there called it--was located in the Smelter Heights. The only musical instrument the Mission had was a used piano donated by the First Southern Baptist church located in downtown Blackwell.

At one time or another, I have heard people sing all five verses. I loved this song when I first heard it, and I love it even more as a Baha'i. The first reason I love it is because it reminds me of a dream I had when I was growing up in Blackwell.

"Glory of the Coming of the Lord" 

I saw Him
descending out of light,
robbed in the sun's bright splendor.

Clouds of glory
could not conceal
the beauty of His countenance.

Nor could
snow capped peak rival
the magnificence of His hair and beard.

The second reason I love this song is that I believe the same Divine Attributes that Christ manifested are manifest in Baha'u'llah, the Glory of God. In this sense Christ has returned. Not the literal or physical Christ, but the attributes of God that Christ reflected to humanity.

Footnotes
1  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Hymn_of_the_Republic#First_published_versio...
2  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Hymn_of_the_Republic#Other_versions