River of the Water of Life

On a hot summer day in Brooklyn NY, pastor Robert Lowry of the Hanson Place Baptist Church found himself thinking about a Scripture passage from the opening of Revelation 22: a pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God. Just reflecting on that image was refreshing, and he soon had the first line of a hymn, "Shall we gather at the river," followed quickly by the response in the refrain, "Yes, we'll gather..." The rest of the verses flowed easily from his imagination (unavoidable pun).

Shall we gather at the river,
Where bright angel feet have trod,
With its crystal tide forever
Flowing by the throne of God?

Refrain
Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
The beautiful, the beautiful river;
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God.

On the margin of the river,
Washing up its silver spray,
We will walk and worship ever,
All the happy golden day.
Refrain

Ere we reach the shining river,
Lay we every burden down;
Grace our spirits will deliver,
And provide a robe and crown.
Refrain

Soon we’ll reach the shining river,
Soon our pilgrimage will cease;
Soon our happy hearts will quiver
With the melody of peace.
Refrain

Robert Lowry, 1864
Tune: HANSON PLACE (8.7.8.7. with refrain)
Robert Lowry, 1864
Countless people have since found refreshment of one sort or another thanks to Lowry's hymn. There's a fifth verse given (inserted between the third and fourth verses above) at the Cyber Hymnal site that I've never seen before and I can't decide if I like it enough to include it or not.

At the smiling of the river,
Mirror of the Savior’s face,
Saints, whom death will never sever,
Lift their songs of saving grace.
Refrain

This hymn gained even wider exposure on the concert stage when composer Aaron Copland wrote a solo setting for it as part of his Old American Songs series. Many people who have heard it sung by concert singers such as William Warfield (who sang the premiere), Marilyn Horne, or Samuel Ramey have never sung it themselves.

The building below was the Hanson Place Baptist Church from 1860 to 1963. It is now the Hanson Place Seventh-Day Adventist Church.