There were in general three main reasons that Ives might have left an early song of his out of his comprehensive collection of 114 Songs (1922). It could be that he simply could not find it in his manuscripts. It could be a decision that the song did not well represent his developing style. Or it could be a sacred song written for church service; since 114 Songs was designed to put worthy songs that had not bee performed publicly "on the clothesline" for people to consider, Ives seems to have felt that songs he had seen performed in church did not need further exposure.

Through Night and Day is an adaptation of I Think of Thee, my God, Ky 3, a part-song he wrote in 1889 to be sung in church. Its text was from Hymns of Praise and Love by the English Reverend John Samuel Bewley Monsell (1811 - 1874).

This version transfers the music to solo voice and piano. The text is secularized by Ives: For instance, the opening line, "I think of Thee, my God," becomes "I dream of thee, my love." In short, the new version is a love song.

The sentiments of the song and the sound of the music are quite within the Victorian tradition. Ives is quite imaginative and free in his use of chromaticism, but in a way that was thoroughly within the harmonic vocabulary of the immediate post-Wagnerian age.

While it is not an outstanding song by any reasonable measure, it does have sufficient merit that Ives' decision to recycle it from church to popular song form is justified. In short, it makes a nice semi-popular song in 1890s style.

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