Poem by Henry Vaughan, 1621-1695.

This song, along with A Farewell, and Song on a Poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was written for and dedicated to Ms. Patti Thompson using texts of her own choosing. The poems chosen and the extraordinary abilities of Ms. Thompson as an artist provided the composer with several ideas he later put to use in his dramatic oratorio The Trojan Women, in which the role of Helen of Troy was written expressly for her.

The live performance of Peace is by Patti Thompson, accompanied by Frank DiGiacomo, at the recital An Evening of Song by Frank DiGiacomo, Friday May 18, 1979 at the Carrier Theater of the Mulroy Civic Center, in Syracuse, New York.

 LYRICS
My soul, there is a country
far beyond the stars,
where stands a winged sentry
all skillful in the wars:
there above noise and danger
sweet Peace sits crowned with smiles,
and One born in a manger
commands the beauteous files.
He is thy gracious friend
and - O my soul, awake! -
did in pure love descend
to die here for thy sake.
If thou canst get but thither,
there grows the flow’r of peace,
the rose that cannot wither,
thy fortress and thy ease.
Leave then thy foolish ranges
for none can thee secure,
but One who never changes,
thy God, thy life, thy cure.

Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900, Arthur Quiller-Couch editor 1919 Silex Scintillans “Sparks from the Flint” Part One 1650.