There is a better world, they say
There is a better world, they say. John Lyth* (1821-1886).
Written at Stroud, Gloucestershire, in 1845, for an anniversary at an infant school in nearby Randwich. It was written to a popular tune called ‘All is well’, and was clearly designed for little children to sing. Lyth explained to W. Fleming Stevenson, editor of Hymns for Church and Home (1873) that this would ‘explain some of the simplicity of the expressions’ (JJ, p. 707). It certainly taps into the enthusiasm of small children – ‘O how bright! O how bright!... Happy land! Happy land!’.
Lyth said that it first appeared in the Home and School Hymn Book, but there were many books with similar titles, and it is not clear which one...
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. "There is a better world, they say."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press. Web. 10 Dec. 2025.<
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/t/there-is-a-better-world,-they-say>.
Chicago style (see The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Ed.)
. "There is a better world, they say."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed December 10, 2025,
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/t/there-is-a-better-world,-they-say.