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Green Fields 127

The Sacred Harp, 1991 (Denson) Edition

Composer: The Kentucky Harmonist, 1818
Poet: John Newton, 1779
Meter: 8s Double (8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8)
Stanza Poetry Source by First Line
1
How tedious and tasteless the hours
When Jesus no longer I see!
Sweet prospects, sweet birds, and sweet flow'rs
Have lost all their sweetness to me;
The midsummer sun shines but dim,
The fields strive in vain to look gay;
But when I am happy in Him,
December's as pleasant as May.


How tedious and tasteless the hours,, Stanza 1
2
His name yields a richest perfume,
And sweeter than music His voice;
His presence disperses my gloom,
And makes all within me rejoice;
I should, were He always thus nigh,
Have nothing to wish or to fear;
No mortal as happy as I,
My summer would last all the year.


How tedious and tasteless the hours,, Stanza 2
3
Content with beholding His face,
My all to His pleasures resigned,
No changes of season or place
Would make any change in my mind:
While bless'd with a sense of his love;
A palace a toy would appear,
And prisons would palaces prove,
If Jesus would dwell with me there.


How tedious and tasteless the hours,, Stanza 3
4
Dear Lord, if indeed I am Thine,
If Thou art my sun and my song,
Say, why do I languish and pine?
And why are my winters so long?
O drive these dark clouds from the sky,
Thy soul cheering presence restore,
Or take me to Thee up on high,
Where winter and clouds are no more.


How tedious and tasteless the hours,, Stanza 4