The Day of the Lord Is at Hand

The day of the Lord is at hand, at hand;
Its storms roll up the sky;
The nations sleep starving on heaps of gold;
All dreamers toss and sigh;
The night is darkest before the morn;
When the pain is sorest the child is born,
And the day of the Lord is at hand, at hand,
The day of the Lord is at hand.

Who would sit down and sigh for a lost age of gold,
While the Lord of all ages is here?
True hearts will leap at the trumpet of God,
And those who can suffer can dare.
Each old age of gold was an iron age, too,
And the meekest of saints may find stern work to do
In the day of the Lord at hand, at hand,
In the day of the Lord at hand.

Author: Charles Kingsley

Year: 1850

This hymn is excerpted from Charles Kingsley's poem "The Day of the Lord" (sometimes titled "The Day of the Lord is at Hand"), first published in 1850 in his collection "Alton Locke" and later in "The Saint's Tragedy" and hymnals. No significant alternate attributions exist.