Lyrics:

1. The time is far spent; there is little remaining
To publish glad tidings by sea and by land.
Then hasten, ye heralds; go forward proclaiming:
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven’s at hand,
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven’s at hand.

2. Shrink not from your duty, however unpleasant,
But follow the Savior, your pattern and friend.
Our little afflictions, tho painful at present,
Ere long, with the righteous, in glory will end,
Ere long, with the righteous, in glory will end.

3. What, tho, if the favor of Ahman possessing,
This world’s bitter hate you are called to endure?
The angels are waiting to crown you with blessings!
Go forward, be faithful, the promise is sure.
Go forward, be faithful, the promise is sure.

4. Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you;
The weight of your calling he perfectly knows.
Your path may be thorny, but Jesus is nigh you;
His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.
His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.

Text: Eliza R. Snow, 1804-1887
Music: German folk song, 18th century

-History: (Source: Wikipedia)

Written By: Eliza R. Snow

Eliza Roxcy Snow Young (January 21, 1804 – December 5, 1887) was one of the most celebrated Latter-day Saint women of the nineteenth century. A renowned poet, she chronicled history, celebrated nature and relationships, and expounded scripture and doctrine. She claimed to be aplural wife of Joseph Smith, Jr., was married openly for many years to polygamist Brigham Young, and was the second general president of theRelief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1866 until her death.

Born in Becket, Massachusetts on 21 January 1804, Snow was the second daughter of Oliver and Rosetta Snow. When she was two years old, her family left New England to settle on a new and fertile farm in the Western Reserve valley, in Mantua, Ohio. The Snow family valued learning and saw that each child had educational opportunities. Eliza worked as secretary for her father in his office as justice of the peace. She gained renown for her poetry in her early twenties, publishing in local newspapers, and winning awards for her work.

Eliza R. Snow wrote poetry from a young age, one time even writing school lessons in rhyme. Between 1826 and 1832 she published more than 20 poems in local newspapers, including the Ravenna, Ohio Western Courier and the Ohio Star, using various pen names. A number of Snow’s poems were set to music and have become important LDS hymns, some of which appear in the current edition of the LDS Hymnal. One of her hymns, “Great is the Lord”, was published in the first Latter-day Saint Hymnbook in 1835, the year of her baptism. In Nauvoo, Eliza R. Snow gained unique distinction as a Mormon poet featured in local newspapers, and she was later called “Zion’s Poetess.” She continued to write poems as she crossed the plains, documenting the pioneer trail and life in Utah. The first of her two volumes of Poems, Religious, Historical, and Political appeared in 1856, followed by the second in 1877. Some of her poems include:

• “How Great the Wisdom and the Love” (text)
• “Invocation, or the Eternal Father and Mother” (“Oh, My Father”) (text)
• “Be Not Discouraged” (text)
• “My First View of a Western Prairie” (text)
• “Mental Gas” (text)
• “Think not When You Gather to Zion Your Troubles and Trials are Through”
• “O Awake! My Slumbering Minstrel”
• “Truth Reflects upon Our Senses”^[4]

One of her best-known poems, “Invocation, or the Eternal Father and Mother,” was written soon after the death of her father and just over a year after the death of Joseph Smith.^[5]. This poem, renamed “O My Father“, is included in the current LDS Hymnal.

Music: German Folk Song