Exultation

Sing, all the earth! See my Lamb in light arrayed!
Whither flees that sadness which had pierced a mother’s heart?
Simeon and Anna, ’tis the day the Lord has made;
Beholding Zion’s glory, let us now in peace depart.

Emmanuel, Emmanuel! How hast Thou mocked the grave?
For Thou, my Child, as God with us, art risen from the dead.
But yesterday death’s Victim lay embalmed within a cave;
Today the Victor stands again and Hades quakes with dread.

Exult with me, O sun and moon! In darkness shines the Light.
Behold your risen God and Lord, of all the dead firstborn.
I see the Lamb my tears anointed trampling Hades’ might,
And night eternal now dispelled by everlasting Morn.

Your lifeless hand our Saviour grasps, O thrice-blest Abraham,
And raises you and Isaac from amidst the nether gloom;
For He is risen! Christ our God, our true Passover Lamb!
And not one dead in all the earth lies trapped within the tomb.

Rejoice with me, O Gabriel, and all th’angelic ranks,
The Fruit which blessed a virgin’s womb death could not long subdue.
My soul doth magnify my Son and overflow with thanks;
The Grain of wheat sown in dishonour springs to life anew.

Nicodemus, noble Joseph, let your laughter ring,
Leap for joy and clap your hands most blest of those of men!
The Lamb you sealed behind the stone has now destroyed death’s sting –
My Son, my Lord, my God, my All, is risen once again.

An Unworthy Priest
1999

See also Lamentation.