The Anniversaries Poems in Commemoration of Great Men and Great Events. By Thomas H. Gill |
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Good Friday.
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Good Friday.
“With His stripes we are healed.”—
Isaiah liii. 5.
'Twere wondrous for the Heavenly Majesty
A moment on this Vale of Tears to break:
But O! it pleased Thee, Lord, our own to be,
Our robe of flesh, our dower of want to take,
Our life Thy life, our tears Thy tears to make,
To shed Thy beauty our mean pathway o'er,
And through our darksome deeps the Heavenly glory pour.
A moment on this Vale of Tears to break:
But O! it pleased Thee, Lord, our own to be,
Our robe of flesh, our dower of want to take,
Our life Thy life, our tears Thy tears to make,
To shed Thy beauty our mean pathway o'er,
And through our darksome deeps the Heavenly glory pour.
But oh! there lay one region dark wherein
The Heavenly Lover might not set His feet.
How could the Sinless try the deeps of Sin?
How could He there His stricken brethren greet,
Yet waste the realm accursed with ruin meet?
For sinners, against sin, the Lord would die:
O Lover wondrous strong! O awful Enemy!
The Heavenly Lover might not set His feet.
How could the Sinless try the deeps of Sin?
How could He there His stricken brethren greet,
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For sinners, against sin, the Lord would die:
O Lover wondrous strong! O awful Enemy!
O dreadful Cross! could Sin such hate provoke?
O tender Cross! such grace could sinners gain?
O Father! did Thy Darling bear our stroke
And take our deadly wages? Did His bane
Our blessing make? our peace require His pain?
Thy depths of shade, dear Cross, all things reveal;
Thy streams of bitterness all wounds divinely heal.
O tender Cross! such grace could sinners gain?
O Father! did Thy Darling bear our stroke
And take our deadly wages? Did His bane
Our blessing make? our peace require His pain?
Thy depths of shade, dear Cross, all things reveal;
Thy streams of bitterness all wounds divinely heal.
Mercy and Majesty together shine
In thy strange brightness, all-atoning Cross!
Here Righteousness and Peace their lips do join,
And mingle their sweet breath harmonious:
O kiss divine! O meeting marvellous!
Revolted Earth to Heaven's embrace thou bringest,
And round disjoinëd worlds thy chain of love thou flingest.
In thy strange brightness, all-atoning Cross!
Here Righteousness and Peace their lips do join,
And mingle their sweet breath harmonious:
O kiss divine! O meeting marvellous!
Revolted Earth to Heaven's embrace thou bringest,
And round disjoinëd worlds thy chain of love thou flingest.
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O bitter Cross! lo, all the ages lie
Steeped in the sweetness that from thee doth stream:
O shameful Cross! a crown of majesty
Upon the world's bowed forehead thou dost beam,—
The glory of each humbled sould dost gleam.
Before the Cross we fall, weak, stainëd things;
We rise rich-robëd Priests! we rise victorious kings!
Steeped in the sweetness that from thee doth stream:
O shameful Cross! a crown of majesty
Upon the world's bowed forehead thou dost beam,—
The glory of each humbled sould dost gleam.
Before the Cross we fall, weak, stainëd things;
We rise rich-robëd Priests! we rise victorious kings!
O sweet Incarnate, sweet Atoning Love!
Thou makëst Life's dark leaves divinely bright;
Beneath thy mighty art the clouds remove,
The glory breaks; thou settest all things right;
Thou mak'st the mystery clear, the burden light.
On, fainting soul, each awful deep explore,
The Cross still droppeth balm! the Cross still yieldeth lore.
Thou makëst Life's dark leaves divinely bright;
Beneath thy mighty art the clouds remove,
The glory breaks; thou settest all things right;
Thou mak'st the mystery clear, the burden light.
On, fainting soul, each awful deep explore,
The Cross still droppeth balm! the Cross still yieldeth lore.
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