American patriotic song written by Julia Ward Howe From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" outside of the United States), is a song by American writer and poetJulia Ward Howe (1819–1910).[1]
Howe's lyrics were written in November 1861 and first published in The Atlantic Monthly in February 1862.[2] She was paid $4.00 for the song.[2] It is based on the music from the song "John Brown's Body".[1] It was made famous by Charles Cardwell McCabe, a Union Armychaplain during the American Civil War.[3] He sang it in front of PresidentAbraham Lincoln who stood and asked to hear it a second time.[3] It quickly became the unofficial anthem of the Union.[3] Since that time, it has become a popular and well-known American patriotic song.
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:
William Emmett Studwell, The National and Religious Song Reader: Patriotic, Traditional, and Sacred Songs from Around the World (Binghamton, NY: 1996), p. 15
Donald Vaughan, The Everything Civil War Book: Everything You Need to Know About the War that Divided the Nation (Holbrook, MA: Adams Media, 2000), p. 41