Sequence 9. Easter

HAIL, great day of wondrous deeds !
Light to deepest gloom succeeds,
And to death new risen life.

Joy all sorrow triumphs o'er,
For the glory now is more
Than the former mingled strife ;
Truth the shadow puts to flight,
What is new the old and trite,
Consolation tears and grief.

Hail to our new Passover j
What the Head did first secure
May each member hope to gain.

Our new Passover is Christ,
Who for us was sacrificed,
As a Lamb devoid of stain.

From the foe about our way
Christ delivers now the prey,
E'en as Samson once did say,
When the lion he slew of yore.

David, strong in his good cause,
Rescues from the lion's claws.

And the bear's devouring jaws,
All his father's flock once more.

Samson slew the most when dying,
Jesus Christ thus typifying,
Death to Whom was victory.

Samson's name " Their Sun " declareth :
As His saints' light Christ appeareth.

Whom He shines on graciously.
From the Cross's holy transom
Flows the grapes' divinest ransom
To the well-loved Church's shrine :
Round the trodden wine-press thronging,
Gentile first-fruits drink, with longing,
Draughts of new and gladdening wine.

Sackcloth, worn to rags and riven.
Is to royal uses given :
With sackcloth shod, see ! peace doth go ;
The flesh hath triumphed over woe.

They are from God's kingdom driven,
Who to death its king have given :
Cain hath not wholly perished yet.

But for a warning sign is set.
Though condemned once and rejected
Was this stone, it stands erected
For a trophy now, selected
As the chiefest corner-stone.

Sin, not nature, He rebateth,
A new creature He createth,
And Himself incorporateth
Jews and Gentiles into one.

To the Head all glory be,
'Mongst the members unity ! Amen.