September 15, 2018 (Saturday)
The recording below by Jo Stafford and Gordon Macrea sounds just like a duet at church. The harmony is perfect; their voices were made for each other. This is a song about hope–seeing the light amidst the darkness, believing strongly that there is something better right around the next curve in the roads of our lives. The date on the first screen of the recording is 1962, but I’m quite sure I heard it in the mid forties. The older I get, however, the more non-happenings I recall.
Whispering Hope
Author: Septimus Winner (1868)
Tune: [Soft as the voice of an angel]
1868
1 Soft as the voice of an angel,
Breathing a lesson unheard,
Hope with a gentle persuasion
Whispers her comforting word:
Wait till the darkness is over,
Wait till the tempest is done,
Hope for the sunshine tomorrow,
After the shower is gone.
Refrain:
Whispering hope, oh, how welcome thy voice,
Making my heart in its sorrow rejoice.
2 If, in the dusk of the twilight,
Dim be the region afar,
Will not the deepening darkness
Brighten the glimmering star?
Then when the night is upon us,
Why should the heart sink away?
When the dark midnight is over,
Watch for the breaking of day. [Refrain]
3 Hope, as an anchor so steadfast,
Rends the dark veil for the soul,
Whither the Master has entered,
Robbing the grave of its goal;
Come then, oh, come, glad fruition,
Come to my sad weary heart;
Come, O Thou blest hope of glory,
Never, oh, never depart. [Refrain]
Baptists’ own B.B. McKinney wrote a hymn for the tune (“Soft as the Voice of An Angel”). The song, “Whispering Hope,” uses the same tune.
List to the voice of the Savior
Author: Baylus Benjamin McKinney
Tune: [Soft as the voice of an angel]
1 List to the voice of the Savior
Coming from heaven above,
Filled with a message so tender,
Filled with a message of love;
Softly it speaks to the weary,
Tenderly speaks to the sad;
Turning their night into morning,
Making the lonely heart glad.
Refrain:
List to the voice,
O how tender and sweet,
Calling you home
Where the ransomed shall meet.
2 List to the voice of the Savior
Calling the weary, opprest,
Lovingly, tenderly pleading,
“Come, and I will give you rest.”
Come with your grief and your sorrow,
Come with your burden of sin;
Trust in the blessed Redeemer,
Life everlasting you’ll win. [Refrain]
3 List to the voice of the Savior
Calling to you and to me,
Calling us over the tumult,
Calling us over the sea;
Go, for the lost ones are straying,
Far from the Savior they roam;
“Go in the byways and hedges”
Bringing the wanderers home. [Refrain]
Author: Septimus Winner (1868)
Tune: [Soft as the voice of an angel]
1868
1 Soft as the voice of an angel,
Breathing a lesson unheard,
Hope with a gentle persuasion
Whispers her comforting word:
Wait till the darkness is over,
Wait till the tempest is done,
Hope for the sunshine tomorrow,
After the shower is gone.
Refrain:
Whispering hope, oh, how welcome thy voice,
Making my heart in its sorrow rejoice.
2 If, in the dusk of the twilight,
Dim be the region afar,
Will not the deepening darkness
Brighten the glimmering star?
Then when the night is upon us,
Why should the heart sink away?
When the dark midnight is over,
Watch for the breaking of day. [Refrain]
3 Hope, as an anchor so steadfast,
Rends the dark veil for the soul,
Whither the Master has entered,
Robbing the grave of its goal;
Come then, oh, come, glad fruition,
Come to my sad weary heart;
Come, O Thou blest hope of glory,
Never, oh, never depart. [Refrain]
Baptists’ own B.B. McKinney wrote a hymn for the tune (“Soft as the Voice of An Angel”). The song, “Whispering Hope,” uses the same tune.
List to the voice of the Savior
Author: Baylus Benjamin McKinney
Tune: [Soft as the voice of an angel]
1 List to the voice of the Savior
Coming from heaven above,
Filled with a message so tender,
Filled with a message of love;
Softly it speaks to the weary,
Tenderly speaks to the sad;
Turning their night into morning,
Making the lonely heart glad.
Refrain:
List to the voice,
O how tender and sweet,
Calling you home
Where the ransomed shall meet.
2 List to the voice of the Savior
Calling the weary, opprest,
Lovingly, tenderly pleading,
“Come, and I will give you rest.”
Come with your grief and your sorrow,
Come with your burden of sin;
Trust in the blessed Redeemer,
Life everlasting you’ll win. [Refrain]
3 List to the voice of the Savior
Calling to you and to me,
Calling us over the tumult,
Calling us over the sea;
Go, for the lost ones are straying,
Far from the Savior they roam;
“Go in the byways and hedges”
Bringing the wanderers home. [Refrain]