Learn English – The lyric of a song, “wayfaring stranger”

lyrics

I am Korean. I like a song, "Wayfaring Stranger" sung by Emmylou Harris. Then I can't understand one line of the lyrics:

Where Gods redeemed their vigils keep

What does it mean? What does "their vigils" mean? What does "their vigils keep? Will you make me grammatically understand it?

The lyrics are …

I am a poor wayfaring stranger
While traveling thru this world of woe
Yet there’s no sickness, toil or danger
In that bright world to which I go

I’m going there to see my father
I’m going there no more to roam
I’m only going over Jordan
I’m only going over home

I know dark clouds will hang around me
I know my way is rough and steep
Yet beauteous fields lie just before me
Where Gods redeemed their vigils keep

I’m going there to see my mother
She said she’d meet me when I come
I’m only going over Jordan
I’m only going over home

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZkg5_YSWc

Best Answer

Like many songs in the "country" or "bluegrass" genres, this is a Gospel song:

Gospel music is a genre of Christian music. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is composed and performed for many purposes, including aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, and as an entertainment product for the marketplace. Gospel music usually has dominant vocals (often with strong use of harmony) with Christian lyrics.

The Christian theme should help us interpret the lyrics. Overall, the song is about someone who is dying and is feeling joyful about going to Heaven.

In this specific line, "God's Redeemed" are those Christians who have been saved and are already in Heaven. See more information here about what this means and why some Christians like to call themselves "redeemed".

Vigil (n): A period of keeping awake during the time usually spent asleep, especially to keep watch or pray.

This definition is, I think, too narrow. A "vigil" is a period of waiting and watching, usually for something to happen, or to guard against something happening. There are many kinds of vigils, but this case evokes the image of a group of waiting/watching "protectors" or "guiding spirits".

Grammatically the line uses a form of literary inversion to place the verb at the end of the sentence rather than its usual place in the middle. One famous example of inversion is the opening line of the epic poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Coleridge:

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree

Inversion adds extra drama and significance to a sentence, and should only be used if you intend to sound overly dramatic (and somewhat archaic). Example:

The general rallied his men, crying, "On this ground we stand, and to no man nor god shall we yield!"

Taken as a whole, "Where Gods redeemed their vigils keep" means something like:

(In Heaven) where those who have been saved have been waiting for me.

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