The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #37937   Message #1373870
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
07-Jan-05 - 02:30 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Sweet Beulah Land (Various songs)
Subject: Lyr Add: BEULAH LAND (Stites/Sweney)
No one seems to have posted the hymn "Beulah Land," although it is the inspiration for several songs such as "Sweet Beulah Land" (Parsons) and parodies such as Dakota Land, Saskatchewan, etc., based on the refrain, which are in the DT. Several mentions in posts.

Lyr. Add: BEULAH LAND
(Lyrics by E. P. Stites, music J. R. Sweney)

I've reached the land of corn and wine,
And all its riches freely mine;
Here shines undimmed one blissful day,
For all my night has passed away.

Refrain:
O Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land,
As on thy highest mount I stand,
I look away across the sea,
Where mansions are prepared for me,
And view the shining glory shore,
My Heav'n, my home forever more!

My Savior comes and walks with me,
And sweet communion here have we;
He gently leads me by His hand,
For this is Heaven's border land.

Refrain

A sweet perfume upon the breeze,
Is borne from ever vernal trees,
And flow'rs, that never fading grow
Where streams of life forever flow.

Refrain

The zephyrs seem to float to me,
Sweet sounds to Heaven's melody,
As angels with the white robed throng
Join in the sweet redemption song.

Refrain

Beulah Land
Always reminds me of the Dust Bowl and Depression days, when, in the west, someone was always humming the refrain or singing a line or two.
Sheet music at Levy Sheet Music and American Memory, published 1878 with music by John R. Sweney, Ditson & Co., Philadelphia. Words by Edgar P. Stites, 1876. Levy copy better: Beulah Land
(http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/cgi-bin/display.pl?record=162.062.000&pages=5)

"Dwelling in Beulah Land," C. Austin Miles, 1911, was heard in the folk revival days and sung by Helen Schneyer on Folk Legacy. Chords in "Rise Up Singing," 1988, 1992, a "Sing Out" publication, p. 92. Lyrics in the DT.
Some comments in thread 15101: Beulah Land