Dwelling in Beulah Land

DESCRIPTION: "Far away the noise of strife upon my ear is falling, Then I know the sins of earth beset on every hand... None these shall move me from Beulah Land." The singer cites variations on the theme of God protecting the sinner from earthly troubles
AUTHOR: C. Austin Miles (1868-1946)
EARLIEST DATE: 1911 (Source: Morgan)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Robert J. Morgan, _Then Sings My Soul, Book 2: 150 of the World's Greatest Hymn Stories_, Nelson, 2004, pp. 262-263, "Dweeling in Beulah Land" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #V46048
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Is This Not the Land of Beulah?" (lyrics)
NOTES [205 words]: As far as I know, this song has never been collected in tradition, and probably was written to recently to have much chance of becoming traditional. I include it because Helen Schneyer was fond of recording it, and many folkies will have heard it as a result, but it should not be considered a folk song.
The name "Beulah Land" derives from Isaiah 62:4, where the author draws a contrast between happy and unhappy nations. The word is not used elsewhere in the Bible; it derives from the root for "married." I suppose there might be some sort of subtext of the church as Bride of Christ in the song's usage, but the Isaiah reference appears to me to be the only Biblical allusion in the song. For more background on the usage of the name, see the notes to "Beulah Land (I)."
This shares a number of lines with "Is This Not the Land of Beulah," e.g. "I am dwelling on a mountain" and "I am drinking at the fountain." There are too many such lines for coincidence to be likely, yet the overall similarity is rather slight; it doesn't appear either song was a copy of the other. Rather, "Is This Not the Land of Beulah?" -- which appears to be the older of the two -- was probably a minor inspiration for "Dwelling in Beulah Land." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: Mr20262

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