The sower went forth sowing (Joseph Barnby)

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• (Posted 2018-12-27)  CPDL #52720:         

Editor: James Gibb (submitted 2018-12-27).   Score information: A4, 2 pages, 67 kB   Copyright: CPDL

Edition notes: Transcribed from the edition on IMSLP.

General Information

Title: The sower went forth sowing
Composer: Joseph Barnby
Lyricist: William St Hill Bourne

Number of voices: 4vv   Voicing: SATB
Genre: Sacred, Hymn   Meter: 76. 76. 76. 76. D

Language: English
Instruments: Organ

First published: 1897 in Hymn Tunes, no. 99, p. 52
Description: 

Original text and translations

English text

1. The sower went forth sowing, The seed in secret slept Through weeks of faith and patience, Till out the green blade crept; And warmed by golden sunshine, And fed by silver rain, At last the fields were whitened To harvest once again. O praise the heavenly Sower, Who gave the fruitful seed, And watched and watered duly, And ripened for our need.

2. Behold! the heavenly Sower Goes forth with better seed, The Word of sure salvation, With feet and hands that bleed; Here in His Church ’tis scattered, Our spirits are the soil; Then let an ample fruitage Repay His pain and toil. Oh, beauteous is the harvest, Wherein all goodness thrives, And this the true thanksgiving, The first fruits of our lives.

3. Within a hallowed acre He sows yet other grain, When peaceful earth receiveth The dead He died to gain; For though the growth be hidden, We know that they shall rise; Yea even now they ripen In sunny Paradise. O summer land of harvest, O fields forever white With souls that wear Christ’s raiment, With crowns of golden light.

4. One day the heavenly Sower Shall reap where He hath sown, And come again rejoicing, And with Him bring His own; And then the fan of judgment Shall winnow from His floor The chaff into the furnace That flameth evermore. O holy, awful Reaper, Have mercy in the day, Thou puttest in the sickle, And cast us not away.