Hymn
Eternity Anticipated
Eternity is just at hand!--
And shall I waste my ebbing sand;
And careless view departing day,
And throw my inch of time away?
But an eternity there is
Of endless wo, or endless bliss;
And swift as time fulfils its round,
We to eternity are bound.
What countless millions of mankind
Have left this fleeting world behind!
They're gone! but where?--ah, pause and see,
Gone to a long eternity.
Sinner! canst thou for ever dwell
In all the fiery deeps of hell;
And is death nothing, then, to thee;
Death, and a dread eternity?
Eternity Anticipated — Text from Hymns, Selected and Original, 1828. Public domain. https://yeshuanow.com/hymns/eternity-anticipated
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Questions about this hymn
Who wrote Eternity Anticipated?
The words of Eternity Anticipated were written by Anne Steele; the version here was published in 1828. The library holds 47 more hymns by Anne Steele, including The Promised Land and Come, Thou Desire of All the Saints.
Is Eternity Anticipated public domain?
Yes. The words here are taken from Hymns, Selected and Original, published in 1828. Works published before 1931 are out of copyright in the United States, so you can print, project, perform and record this hymn freely. How we source and check every hymn.
What is the metre of Eternity Anticipated?
Eternity Anticipated is in Long Metre (8.8.8.8). Hymns in the same metre can usually be sung to the same tunes — for example, Prayer answered by Crosses, Watchfulness and Brotherly Love and Giver of Rest.