Classic Poem

Rise, captive Zion, shine; thy light is come;
The glory of the Lord on thee hath risen.
Arise and sing; and in thy palace home
Forget the dust and darkness of thy prison.
Lost and astray, thy Shepherd now hath found thee:
Childless so long, thy children cluster round thee:
A widow for these weary centuries,
Thy Husband hath return'd and bids thee, rise.

Yet faint and feeble to the eyes of man
Dawns the far dayspring for the dead and dying.
Earth cannot read heaven's mighty mystic plan,
Where sleeps yon Infant in a manger lying;
But God's own courier leads His Eastern sages
There to adore the great Desire of ages,
Who shower before Him costliest offerings,
And worship in that Babe the King of kings.

O Thou, who badest light from darkness shine,
Write in our hearts Redemption's earliest story,
The Human only veiling the Divine,
Love's coronation in that hidden glory.
Faith knows Thee now. Oh, grant us the fruition
Hereafter of Thy Godhead's glorious vision:
Now God with us, all hail Emmanuel!
Then and for ever we with God to dwell.