1. I hear the bells across the sea,
Softly, gent­ly swing­ing,
The li­ly bells of Ga­li­lee,
Softly, sweet­ly, ring­ing;
They tell me of the bet­ter life,
Of qui­et calm amid the strife;
A life safe shel­tered from all ill
Within the hea­ven­ly Fa­ther’s will,
And so my heart keeps sing­ing.

2. I hear the bells across the sea,
Softly, gent­ly swing­ing,
The li­ly bells of Ga­l­ilee,
Softly, sweet­ly, ring­ing;
They ring the fret and fe­ver out,
The cra­ven fear, the fool­ish doubt;
A gold­en An­ge­lus, they call
Me back to Him who loves us all
And so my heart keeps sing­ing.

3. I hear the bells across the sea,
Softly, gent­ly swing­ing,
The li­ly bells of G­ali­lee,
Softly, sweet­ly, ring­ing;
How He whose sun­light paints the flow’rs,
Turns ill to good, from dark­est hours;
New plea­sures come, new joys are born,
With all the blos­som of the morn,
And so my heart keeps sing­ing.