The Battle Hymn of the Republic

Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory

According to Wikipedia, “The original words and music [to The Battle Hymn of the Republic] were written in 1853 by South Carolinian William Steffe and was sung as a campfire spiritual. The catchy tune spread across the country, taking on many sets of new lyrics (most of them vulgar).”

The song became a patriotic anthem during the Civil War after Julia Howe was inspired to write a poem to the music (which was alternately called “John Brown’s Body”) which she heard sung by Union Soldiers while visiting a Union Army Camp.

I awoke in the grey of the morning, and as I lay waiting for dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to entwine themselves in my mind, and I said to myself, ‘I must get up and write these verses, lest I fall asleep and forget them!’ So I sprang out of bed and in the dimness found an old stump of a pen, which I remembered using the day before. I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper.

Julia W. Howe

The hymn is commonly sung in church services and at funerals. Notably it was performed at the funerals of Winston Churchill, Senator Robert Kennedy, and Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon.

Ironically, as reverent as the lyrics are intended to be, it is one of the most parodied of all songs, often by school children. (i.e. “Glory, glory, hallelujah! Teacher hit me with a ruler. I met her at the door with a loaded .44, and I ain’t seen the old goat since…” and countless other renditions.) The lyrics to Battle Hymn of the Republic appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862.

Martin Luther King and The Battle Hymn of the Republic

In a prophetic finale to his [last] speech, [Martin Luther] King revealed that he was not afraid to die: “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life—longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will…. And so I’m happy tonight; I’m not worried about anything; I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord”

Stanford.edu

The Battle Hymn of the Republic Lyrics

1 Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

Refrain:
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

2 I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read the righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;
His day is marching on. [Refrain]

3 He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of all before his judgment seat;
O be swift, my soul, to answer him; be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on. [Refrain]

4 In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me;
As he died to make us holy, let us die that all be free!
While God is marching on. [Refrain]

Source: Breaking Bread (Vol. 39) #578