Carols for Easter-Tide :: :: University of Virginia Library

Carols for Easter-Tide

Set to Ancient Melodies by the Rev. T. Helmore ... the words Principally in imitation of the original, by the Rev. J. M. Neale

Neale, J. M. (1818-1866)

[epigraph]

[dedication]

CAROLS FOR EASTER-TIDE.

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XVIII. Sing Alleluia, all ye lands.

1

Sing Alleluia, all ye lands!
Ye floods and oceans, clap your hands!
The King returns from glorious fight,
Whose arms have shatter'd Satan's might:
Our gladdest song shall therefore be
That God was reigning from the Tree!

2

The sling and five smooth stones have slain
The giant on the battle plain:
And Holofernes' falchion dread
Hath severed Holofernes' head:
Our Chief is crowned, for slain was He,
When God was reigning from the Tree!

3

Alone, despis'd and set at nought
The press He trod, the fight He fought:
Alone He crush'd the Dragon down,
And so alone He wears the Crown:
The sun is bright, the clouds must flee,
For God was reigning from the Tree!

4

Jerusalem, arise and shine!
The glory of thy Lord is thine:
The victor's crown, the Royal Throne,
Are all His gift, and all thine own;
For all of His thine own shall be,
Since God was reigning from the Tree!

The allusion is to the old reading of Psalm xcvi. 10, so often quoted by early writers in their controversies with the Jews: “Tell it out among the nations, The Lord hath reigned from the Tree.”