WHAT SHALL THE HARVEST BE?
It was a great relief to stand up at last, and
sing again. This was a hymn with a dancing swing
and a throbbing beat. -- Little Town on the
Prairie, Chapter 23, "Schooltime Begins Again"
"What Shall the Harvest Be?" was originally writtenby Emily S. Oakley in 1850 as a poem titled "Sowing the Seed." It was published in The Prize, 1870. Alternate music to the original was by Philip P. Bliss in 1870. In Little Town on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote that this hymn was sung at a revival meeting in De Smet. There is another "Little House"® connection; it was sung at the 1877 New Year's Day celebration at the Burr Oak Congregational Church in Burr Oak, Iowa. Charles and Caroline Ingalls joined the church in January 1877; perhaps the Ingalls family attended this service.
Emily Sullivan Oakley (1829-1883) was born and died in Albany, New York. In 1850, she graduated from the Albany Female Acadamy; four years later she was hired as a teacher there, teaching English literature, Latin, Logic, German, and French. During her career, Oakley contributed to magazines and newspapers, and she published two collections of her writings.
Philip Paul Bliss (1838-1876) was born in Pennsylvania to poor parents. He married a musician and poet, and under his wife's influence, he studied how words and music went together. After moving to Chicago following the Civil War, he served as chorister and Sunday School Superintendent of the First Congregational Church of Chicago. He became an evangelist in 1874 and toured the northeast, publishing Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs in 1875. "What Shall the Harvest Be?" was included in this collection.
After spending Christmas 1876 with his mother, Bliss and his wife were returning to Chicago when a bridge collapse wrecked their train. He survived the initial impact but died when he returned to the wreckage in an attempt to rescue his wife.
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WHAT SHALL THE HARVEST BE?
1. Sowing the seed by the daylight fair, Sowing the seed by the noonday glare, Sowing the seed by the fading light, Sowing the seed in the solemn night: O what shall the harvest be? O what shall the harvest be?
[chorus] Sown in the darkness or sown in the light, Sown in our weakness or sown in our might, Gathered in time or eternity, Sure, ah sure will the harvest be.
2. Sowing the seed by the wayside high, Sowing the seed on the rocks to die. Sowing the seed where the thorns will spoil, Sowing the seed in the fertile soil: O what shall the harvest be? O what shall the harvest be?
3. Sowing the seed with an aching heart, Sowing the seed while the teardrops start, Sowing in hope till the reapers come Gladly to gather the harvest home. O what shall the harvest be? O what shall the harvest be? |
WHAT SHALL THE HARVEST BE? (from Little Town on the Prairie)
Sowing the seed by the daylight fair, Sowing the seed by the noonday glare, Sowing the seed by the fading light, Sowing the seed in the solemn night, Oh, what shall the harvest be-e-e, Oh, what shall the harvest be?
Use the navigation bar above to listen to "What Shall the Harvest Be?" Midi sequence from the Cyber Hymnal at www.cyberhymnal.org, featuring thousands of Christian hymns and gospel songs from many denominations - lyrics, midi files, scores, pictures, history and more. If you do not see the midi player above, click HERE to listen.
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