Both words and music were first published in Songs of Perfect Love, compiled by Carter and John R. Sweney (see Biographies) in 1886. The original had five stanzas

Russell Kelso Carter was born November 18, 1849, in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated in the first class from Pennsylvania Military Academy, Chester, in 1867. He was such an outstanding student that the school invited him to stay and teach. He spent 18 years teaching chemistry, natural science, civil engineering, and mathematics and three years as a sheepherder in California. In 1887 he was ordained a Methodist minister, and became involved with the Holiness movement, which included camp meetings. Active with the pen, he published several novels, and works on science, mathematics, and religion. Collaborating with A. B. Simpson, in 1891 he published Hymns of Christian Life, to which he contributed 52 hymn texts, 68 tunes, and arrangements of 25 other tunes. There seemed to be no end to his quest for knowledge, for he quit the ministry, studied medicine, and became a practicing physician in Baltimore. He died at Catonsville, Maryland, August 23, 1928. It has been suggested that the marching character of this song comes from Carter’s long experience in the military academy.