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THE SPIRIT-LAND.
Beautiful city, bright home of the blessed!
When shall I stand by thy crystalline sea?
Earth's joys are sweet, but they lure me from duty;
Earth-loves are strong, but they bind like a chain!
Sometimes my heart clings to life and earth's beauty
With a wild yearning that grows into pain;
And I forget the- bright glories that wait me
Over the river on heaven's happy plain.
There bloom the flowers that wither, ah never!
There live the loved ones who've passed from my sight;
There ring the anthems that sound on forever;
There walk the saints in their garments of white;