 | Songs of Democracy |  |
THE MARRIAGE FEAST.
Come to the marriage feast
Where the glittering tables wait—
Where the greatest shall be the least,
And the least shall be the great;
From the street and the bleak highway,
From hovel, and hut, and shed:
'Tis the feast of the Lord to-day,
The giver of life and bread.
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
Where the glittering tables wait—
Where the greatest shall be the least,
And the least shall be the great;
From the street and the bleak highway,
From hovel, and hut, and shed:
'Tis the feast of the Lord to-day,
The giver of life and bread.
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
Ho! stay thee! thou proud Pharisee!
Ho! stay thee! thou changer of gold!
Tho' gorgeous thy garments may be,
There's a stain on their glittering fold.
See! there ran the tear of the child!
See! there flowed the blood of the poor!
The feast of the Lord is defiled!
Away with him—out from the door.
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
Ho! stay thee! thou changer of gold!
Tho' gorgeous thy garments may be,
There's a stain on their glittering fold.
See! there ran the tear of the child!
See! there flowed the blood of the poor!
The feast of the Lord is defiled!
Away with him—out from the door.
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
Ho! stay thee! thou hypocrite priest,
Who hast made of religion a mock!
Who ever bade thee to my feast,
Overgorged with the spoil of my flock?
Thou sinner, of all most abhorred!
Thy temples of Baal are no more:
Come, seize him—ye saints of the Lord,
Away with him, out from the door!
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
Who hast made of religion a mock!
Who ever bade thee to my feast,
Overgorged with the spoil of my flock?
Thou sinner, of all most abhorred!
Thy temples of Baal are no more:
Come, seize him—ye saints of the Lord,
Away with him, out from the door!
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
Ho! stay thee, thou scourge of the brave!
Ho! stay thee, thou proud sceptred thing!
Not mine was the unction they gave:
'Twas the devil who crowned thee a king!
Thou hast ruled by the axe and the sword,
Thou hast lived on the death of the poor:
Not for thee is the feast of the Lord,
Away with him—out from the door!
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
Ho! stay thee, thou proud sceptred thing!
Not mine was the unction they gave:
'Twas the devil who crowned thee a king!
Thou hast ruled by the axe and the sword,
Thou hast lived on the death of the poor:
Not for thee is the feast of the Lord,
Away with him—out from the door!
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
Who art thou with parchment and gown,
Who makest of justice a trade?
In the Gospel my laws are writ' down,
I know not the laws ye have made.
Who art thou, with forehead accurst,
Deep tinted in blood to the knee?
I doomed the one Cain at the first,
To the last they shall perish as he!
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
Who makest of justice a trade?
In the Gospel my laws are writ' down,
I know not the laws ye have made.
Who art thou, with forehead accurst,
Deep tinted in blood to the knee?
I doomed the one Cain at the first,
To the last they shall perish as he!
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
Without, there is gnashing of teeth!
Without, there is wringing of hands!
'Twixt his servitors dread, Life and Death,
The Lord of the Universe stands:
And past him they flit, Priest and King,
All the lords of land, labour, and gold,
They come, from each new tyrant thing,
To each cankerworn privilege old.
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
Without, there is wringing of hands!
'Twixt his servitors dread, Life and Death,
The Lord of the Universe stands:
And past him they flit, Priest and King,
All the lords of land, labour, and gold,
They come, from each new tyrant thing,
To each cankerworn privilege old.
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
And away they are cast from the door:
For the doom they have preached of so fast,
With which they long frightened the poor,
Was kept for themselves at the last!
And the earth that was turned to a hell,
And the heaven men knew but by name,
Since the many-fold Man-Satan fell,
Were found to be one and the same.
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
For the doom they have preached of so fast,
With which they long frightened the poor,
Was kept for themselves at the last!
And the earth that was turned to a hell,
And the heaven men knew but by name,
Since the many-fold Man-Satan fell,
Were found to be one and the same.
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
Then hail to the marriage feast,
Where the glittering tables wait,
And the greatest are made the least,
And the least are made the great.
By the borders that Adam once trod,
The gardens of Paradise spread,
For the God of our praise, is “the God
Of the living, and not of the dead.”
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
Where the glittering tables wait,
And the greatest are made the least,
And the least are made the great.
By the borders that Adam once trod,
The gardens of Paradise spread,
For the God of our praise, is “the God
Of the living, and not of the dead.”
Come to the marriage feast, &c.
| Songs of Democracy | |