4 Whilst I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyelids close in death,
When I soar through tracts unknown,
See thee on thy judgment-throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee.
Augustus M. Toplady, 1776.
1 RESTING from his work to-day,
In the tomb the Saviour lay;
Still he slept, from head to feet
Shrouded in the winding sheet,
Lying in the rock alone,
Hid beneath the sealéd stone.
2 Late at even there was seen,
Watching long, the Magdalene;
Early, ere the break of day,
Sorrowful she took her way
To the holy garden glade,
Where her buried Lord was laid.
3 So with thee, till life shall end,
I would solemn vigil spend;
Let me hew thee, Lord, a shrine
In this rocky heart of mine,
Where in pure embalmed cell
None but thou may'st ever dwell.
4 Myrrh and spices I will bring,
True affection's offering;
Close the door from sight and sound
Of the busy world around;
And in patient watch remain
Till my Lord appear again.
Thomas Whytehead, 1842, a.
CHRIST,-HIS RESURREC
TION AND ASCENSION.
1 MORNING breaks upon the tomb;
Jesus dissipates its gloom;
Day of triumph! through the skies,
See the glorious Saviour rise!
2 Christians, dry your flowing tears;
Chase those unbelieving fears;
Look on his deserted grave;
Doubt no more his power to save.
3 Ye who are of death afraid,
Triumph in the scattered shade;
Drive your anxious cares away;
See the place where Jesus lay.
4 So the rising sun appears,
Shedding radiance o'er the spheres ;
So returning beams of light
Chase the terrors of the night.
William Bengo Collyer, 1812.
1 ANGELS, roll the rock away!
Death, yield up thy mighty prey!
See, the Saviour leaves the tomb,
Glowing with immortal bloom.
2 Shout, ye seraphs; Gabriel, raise
Thine eternal trump of praise;
Let the earth's remotest bound
Echo to the blissful sound.
3 Saints on earth, lift up your eyes;
Now to glory see him rise;
Troops of angels on the road,
Hail and sing th' incarnate God.
4 Heaven unfolds its portals wide:
Glorious hero, through them ride;
King of glory, mount thy throne;
Boundless empire is thine own.
5 Praise him, all ye heavenly choirs!
Praise, and sweep your golden lyres!
Shout, O earth, in rapturous song,
Let the strains be sweet and strong!
6 Every note with wonder swell,
Sin o'erthrown, and captive hell!
Where, O death, is now thy sting?
Where thy terrors, vanquished king?
1 JESUS CHRIST is risen to-day,
Our triumphant holy day,
Who did once upon the cross
Suffer to redeem our loss.
2 Hymns of praise, then, let us sing
Unto Christ, our heavenly King,
Who endured the cross and grave,
Sinners to redeem and save.
3 But the pains which he endured
Our salvation has procured;
Now above the sky he's King,
Where the angels ever sing.
4 Now be God the Father praised,
With the Son from death upraised,
And the Spirit ever blest:
One true God by all confessed.
Tr. from the Latin of 15th century.
1 CHRIST the Lord is risen again;
Christ hath broken every chain;
Hark! angelic voices cry,
Singing evermore on high,
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
2 He who gave for us his life,
Who for us endured the strife,
Is our paschal Lamb to-day!
We, too, sing for joy, and say,
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
3 He who bore all pain and loss,
Comfortless, upon the cross,
Lives in glory now on high,
Pleads for us, and hears our cry:
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
4 He, who slumbered in the grave
Is exalted now to save;
Now through Christendom it rings
That the Lamb is King of kings:
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
5 Now he bids us tell abroad
How the lost may be restored,
How the penitent forgiven,
How we, too, may enter heaven:
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
6 Thou, our paschal Lamb indeed,
Christ, to-day thy people feed!
Take our sins and guilt away,
Let us sing by night and day,
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Bohemian Easter Hymn, 1531; tr. by C. Winkworth, 1858
1 CHRIST, the Lord, is risen to-day!
Sons of men and angels say:
Raise your joys and triumphs high;
Sing ye heavens, and earth reply!
2 Love's redeeming work is done,
Fought the fight, the battle won:
Lo! our sun's eclipse is o'er;
Lo! he sets in blood no more.
3 Vain the stone, the watch, the seal;
Christ hath burst the gates of hell:
Death in vain forbids his rise,.
Christ hath opened paradise.
4 Lives again our glorious King!
Where, O death, is now thy sting?
Once he died our souls to save;
Where thy victory, O grave?
5 Soar we now where Christ has led,
Following our exalted Head:
Made like him, like him we rise,
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies.
6 Hail the Lord of earth and heaven!
Praise to thee by both be given;
Thee we greet triumphant now,
Hail! the resurrection thou.
1 THE happy morn is come;
The Saviour leaves the grave;
His glorious work is done,
Almighty now to save:
Captivity is captive led,
Since Jesus liveth that was dead.
2 Who to our charge shall lay
Iniquity and guilt?
All sin is done away,
Since his rich blood was spilt;
Captivity is captive led,
Since Jesus liveth that was dead.
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