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* Index of the First Line of Each Stanza, the Fifth Line of Eight Line Stanzas, and the First Line of the Chorus

My dearest friends in bonds of love,

Poet: John Blain, 1818
Meter: Long Meter Double (8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8)
Location in The Sacred Harp
Stanza Denson Cooper
1
My dearest friends in bonds of love,
Whose hearts in sweetest union prove,
Your friendship's like a drawing band,
Yet we must take the parting hand:
Your company's sweet, your union dear,
Your words delightful to my ear;
And when I see that we must part,
You draw like cords about my heart.
Parting Hand 62, Stanza 1
Parting Hand 62, Stanza 1
2
How sweet the hours have pass'd away,
When we have met to sing and pray!
How loath we've been to leave the place
Where Jesus shows his smiling face!
O, could I stay with friends so kind,
How would it cheer my struggling mind!
But duty makes me understand,
That we must take the parting hand.
Parting Hand 62, Stanza 2
Parting Hand 62, Stanza 2
3
But since it is God's holy will,
We must be parted for a while,
In sweet submission, all as one.
We'll say our Father's will be done.
Dear fellow-youth, in Christian ties,
Who seek for mansions in the skies,
Fight on, you'll gain that happy shore,
Where parting hands will be no more!
Parting Hand 62, Stanza 3
Parting Hand 62, Stanza 3
4
How oft I've seen your flowing tears,
And heard you tell your hopes and fears!
Your hearts with love have seem'd to flame,
Which makes me hope we'll meet again.
Ye mourning souls in sore surprise,
Jesus remembers all your cries.
O! trust his grace, and in that land,
We'll no more take the parting hand.
Parting Hand 62, Stanza 4
Parting Hand 62, Stanza 4
5
Dear Christian friends, both old and young
I hope in Christ you'll all be strong;
And if on earth we meet no more,
O may we meet on Canaan's shore.
I hope you'll all remember me,
If here no more my face you see;
An interest in your prayers I crave,
That we may meet beyond the grave.
Parting Hand 62, Stanza 5
Farewell to All 69b, Stanza 1
6
O glorious day! O blessed hope;
My heart leaps forward at the thought,
When in that happy, happy land,
We'll no more take the parting hand;
But with our Saviour, holy Lord,
We'll shout and sing with one accord;
And there we'll all with Jesus dwell,
So, loving brethren all, farewell!
Parting Hand 62, Stanza 6
The Camp Meeting Hymn Book: containing the most approved hymns and spiritual songs Used by the Methodist Connexion in the United States. Seneca Falls, New York: William Child for S. Shaw (Printer), 1831.