Words by Julia Ward Howe*, Composed by William Steffe, Andy
Williams (#33 in 1968), Patriotic
Mine eyes have seen the glory
of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage
where the grapes of wrath are stored,
He has loosed the fateful lightening
of His terrible swift sword
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch-fires
of a hundred circling camps
They have builded Him an altar
in the evening dews and damps
l can read His righteous sentence
by the dim and flaring lamps
His day is marching on. Chorus
I have read a fiery gospel
writ in burnish'd rows of steel,
"As ye deal with my condemners,
So with you my grace shall deal"
Let the Hero, born of woman,
crush the serpent with his heel
Since God is marching on.Chorus
He has sounded forth the trumpet
that shall never call retreat
He is sifting out the hearts of men
before His judgment-seat
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him!
Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.Chorus
ln the beauty of the lilies
Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom
that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy,
let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.Chorus
Julia Ward Howe visited some Union Army camps
in 1861. She herd some soldiers singing "John Brown's Body," whose melody
came from a hymn called "Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us?" She was inspired
to write her superb poem to that tune. It quickly became the most popular
marching song with the Northern soldiers in the Civil War.
