|
Beulah Land
This is not the Southern gospel song "Sweet Beulah Land," written and composed by Squire Parsons in 1973.
Old-Time Gospel; written by Edgar Page Stites in 1876
ARTIST: Words: Edgar Page Stites; Tune: John R. Sweney
Sheet music for BEULAH LAND, attributed to Edgar Page Stites and J. R. Sweney
http://books.google.com/books?id=QKgQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11
CATEGORY: Traditional Shape-Note Gospel;
DATE: 1876 Edgar Page Stites
RECORDING INFO: Beulah Land [Me III-E 25] - Stites, Edgar Page/Sweeney, John R.
Rm - Maryland, My Maryland
Mf - Promised Land ; Harvest Land ; Kansas Fool ; Harvest Hand
Pb - Sweet Nebraska Land ; Dakota Land ; Quincyland, My Quincyland ; Kansas Girls ; Oregon Girls
Scofield, Twilo (ed.) / An American Sampler, Cuthroat, Sof (1981), p 87
Benziger, Barbara; & Eleanor Dickinson (eds.) / That Old-Time Religion, Harper & Row, Sof (1975), p 83
Morrison, Bill. Songs of Mississippi John Hurt, Philo 4965, CD (1999), trk# 10
Renfro Valley Choir. Renfro Valley Gatherin', Renfro Valley, LP (196?), trk# A.02
OTHER NAMES: "O Beulah Land"
SOURCES: Wikipedia; Mudcat cafe
NOTES: "Beulah Land" is a well-known gospel hymn written by Edgar Page Stites (1836-1921) in either 1875 or 1876. The hymn, Stites' most popular, is set to music written by John R. Sweney (1837-1899). The hymn concludes with the chorus:
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 heaven, my home forever more.
Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress gives the following definition of the term Land of Beulah: "the peaceful land in which the pilgrim awaits the call to the Celestial City"
Information from Wikipedia/Mudcat: This is the gospel hymn by Edgar Page Stites; not the Southern gospel song "Sweet Beulah Land" by Squire Parsons, who used only text from the first line of the chorus to write his song.
The hymn derives from the King James Version of Isaiah 62:4; "Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called Hephzibah and thy land Beulah; for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married."
The verse is in reference to the return of the Jews from their exile in Babylon in which the Jews shall no longer be called Forsaken, but Hephzibah (My Delight Is in Her), and Jerusalem shall no longer be called Desolate, but Beulah (Married). This implies that the Jews have turned back to the worship of God.
The idea the hymn presents that Heaven can be seen from Beulah land comes from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress in which he states "Therefore it is, I say, that the Enchanted ground [i.e. Heaven] is placed so nigh to the land Beulah and so near the end of their race."
"The significance of a new name is also noted by Freehof who states, "A new name is a symbol of a new and better life." In Israelite culture, the giving of a new name also was "a sign that the receiver of the name is coming under the authority of the giver of the name." In giving Zion a new name, God was calling Zion to be under his authority.
The word "Hephzibah" is translated from Hebrew as "My Delight is in Her". This word is expressing God's love and tenderness towards His people. According to Haak, the word "Hephzibah" is "found in only two places in the Bible. First, it was what the God-fearing
Hezekiah called his wife. In II Kings 21:1 we learn that Hezekiah's wife was called "Hephzibah" and Hezekiah could say concerning his wife, 'My delight is in her'." God is delighting in his people. In the last part of Isaiah 62: 4 God is calling them into a relationship "where thy land shall be married." The marriage imagery is used to indicate that Yahweh is inviting his people to be in relationship with Him. This is what the word Beulah is signifying. Yahweh is the groom, Israel the bride. The marriage theme is used throughout the Old Testament and the author of verse 4 uses it to "describe the relationship between Yahweh and his people, much as his predecessors, Hosea, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Second Isaiah, had done."35 Isaiah 62:4-5 gives a complete picture of the marriage imagery"...
Background of hymn
Edgar Page Stites was born at Cape May, New Jersey, where his ancestors had settled after coming over on the Mayflower. Edgar was converted to Christ at the age of 19 during the great revival of Philadelphia, often called the Awakening of 1857 and 1858. Shortly thereafter, he joined the Methodist Church of Cape May and became a local “lay pastor.” As a home missionary, he also was involved in the starting of new churches in the South Jersey area.
In 1869, Stites, along with other Methodist ministers and laymen, founded the “Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association” to run a Methodist camp meeting south of Ocean Grove, New Jersey. By 1875, the camp was quite active. Popular hymn writers of the day would visit each summer: Ira D. Sankey, William H. Doane, William J. Kirkpatrick, John R. Sweeney, Eliza E. Hewitt, Fanny Crosby, and others.
One version of the origin of "Beulah Land" has it written for the Ocean Grove Camp in 1875. John R. Sweney, composer of the music, was the camp song leader, which lends credibility to this version.
A differing version of the origin of the hymn was given some years later by Sites himself:
"It was in 1876 that I wrote ‘Beulah Land.’ I could write only two verses and the chorus, when I was overcome and fell on my face. That was one Sunday. On the following Sunday I wrote the third and fourth verses, and again I was so influenced by emotion that I could only pray and weep. The first time it was sung was at the regular Monday morning meeting of Methodists in Philadelphia. Bishop McCabe sang it to the assembled ministers. Since then it is known wherever religious people congregate. I have never received a cent for my songs. Perhaps that is why they have had such a wide popularity. I could not do work for the Master and receive pay for it."
Other References
Alternative Piano Artist Tori Amos wrote a song also entitled "Beulah Land" which was a B-side on her 1998 album From the Choirgirl Hotel.
In the final moments of the opera The Ballad of Baby Doe, the title character (referring to her husband) sings "In the circle of his arms I am safe in Beulah Land."
The Tom Waits song, "Take Care Of All My Children," includes the line "I'll be goin' up to Beulah Land."
The Vigilantes of Love song "Earth Has No Sorrow" includes the line "U hear angels 'cross that river in Beulah land".
Modern author Krista McGruder, a native of the Ozarks, entitled her first collections of short stories "Beulah Land".
Mary Lee Settle, National Book Award winner for Blood Ties, 1978, wrote a series of novels called the Beulah Land quintet, beginning with O Beulah Land in 1956.
Songwriter Drew Nelson won international acclaim with the 2009 album "Dusty Road to Beulah Land", produced by Michael Crittenden of Mackinaw Harvest Music. The album has been described as "a love song to the state of Michigan." Local community radio station WYCE in Grand Rapids, Michigan awarded the album "Best Local Album" at the 2010 Jammie Awards.
Hymn Story- Beulah Land by Bill Dagle
Summertime brings thoughts of outdoor activities, including the annual pilgrimage to summer camp meetings. Up and down the northeast coast, summer meeting camps would flourish in the late 1800's; but in particular, one would catch the nation�s attention: Ocean Grove, New Jersey. It was here at this famous Methodist camp meeting that a hymn would be written in 1875.
Our story begins south of Ocean Grove in Cape May, New Jersey. Edgar Page Stites was born in 1836 at Cape May where his ancestors had settled after coming over on the Mayflower. Edgar was converted to Christ at the age of 19 during the great revival of Philadelphia, often called the Awakening of 1857 and 1858. Shortly thereafter, he joined the Methodist Church of Cape May and became a local lay pastor. As a home missionary, he also was involved in the starting of new churches in the South Jersey area. Then, in 1870, Stites, along with other Methodist ministers and laymen, founded the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. By 1875, the camp ground was developing tents, summer cabins, and even homes of a permanent nature.
Music played an important part at the Grove meetings. The most popular songwriters at that time would visit each summer: Sankey, Doane, Kirkpatrick, Sweeney, Hewitt and Fanny Crosby just to name a few. Even our Edgar would write a hymn in 1874, Trusting Jesus, That Is All; and Ira Sankey would set it to music. Truly the grove summers were a foretaste of what Heaven would be someday.
With each new summer, Stites looked forward to what the Lord was going to do at Ocean Grove. Then, in the summer of 1875, the Lord moved upon the heart of Edgar Page Stites. After the first day of meetings, he returned to his cottage and exclaimed, All this and Heaven too! There under the light of a kerosene lamp, he started to write, I've reached the land of corn and wine and all its riches fully mine; here shines undimmed one blissful day for all my night has passed away. His pen would pour out three more stanzas; and then as if seeing beyond this life, he added this chorus which is the hope that is found in Christ and Christ alone:
BEULAH LAND- Words: Edgar Page Stites; Tune: John R. Sweney
I've reached the land of corn and wine,
And all it's riches freely mine;
Here shines undimmed one blissful day,
For all my night has passed away.
Chorus: O Beuhla Land, sweet Beuhla Land,
As on thy highest mount I stand,
O look away across the sea,
Where mansions are prepared for me,
And view the shining glory-shore,
My heav'n, my home for evermore!
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.
Chorus:
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.
Chorus:
The zephyrs seem to float to me
Sweet sounds of heaven's melody,
As angels with the white-robed throng
Join in the sweet redemption song.
Chorus:
|