"Hope on the Unseen Shore" ([circa Dec.] 1869)
Words by P. S. Pennell
Music by Joseph Philbrick Webster, 1819-1875

Cleveland, OH: S. Brainard's Sons
Plate No. 5740
[Source: @HSM/LoC]

1.
Beyond the clouds that o'er us form,
  Beyond all earthly bliss,
Hope paints a bow so bright, no storm
  Will ever reach from this;
So glorious and divinely fair,
  Its blended hues appear.
We know that God hath placed it there,
  And dwells forever near.

CHORUS [sung after each verse]
Oh glorious Hope,
Oh unseen shore
On which the dear one waiting stands
And beckons me forever more
With gentle, gentle waving hands.

2.
Though torrents roar, and mountains frown,
  While Oceans roll between.
Though tempests pour their fury down,
  To veil thy golden sheen;
With crystal touch each polished beam
  Shot from thy radiant bows,
Like twilight stars doth brighter gleam,
  As night the darker grows.

3.
Oh! matchless Hope that buoys me up,
  Through life's dark, gloomy halls
Whose footsteps have yon river crossed,
  Where mortal never falls;
Of golden sands the unseen shore,
  On which ye waiting staind,
And beckon me forever more,
  With gentle waving hand.

4.
Our vision may not pierce the gloom,
  That darkness o'er the tide,
And hides from view the rose's bloom,
  Upon the shining side;
But there's a bliss we often catch,
  In fragrance from the gale,
Which seems its sweetness to have snatched,
  From flowers beyond the veil.

5.
We mourn not for the long by gones,
  That died in mortal strife,
But rath rend these dusty bands,
  Which chain the crystal life;
While hope beams brighter on the strand,
  And shadows lengthen fast,
As nearer to her waving hand,
  Each day our anchor cast.