Classic Poem

C HRIST'S Church in heaven to-day
Rejoiceth: and rejoice, Christ's Church on earth
We have our times of mourning and of mirth;
Their tears are wiped away.

Succour Thy children, Lord,
Thy Church that in this joyless valley dwells:
Peopling the air, let angel sentinels
Keep o'er her watch and ward.

The world, the flesh, hell's powers
Wage differing war around us; aye upstart
New phantom-hosts; the sabbath of the heart,
O Lord, it is not ours.

On earth we know no calm:
Fear succeeds Hope, Grief banishes Delight;
In heaven they sing, and pause not day or night,
Their never-ending psalm.

O happy City! Life
Is there but one long day of jubilee!
O happy citizens, for ever free
From turmoil and from strife!

They wax not old, nor faint:
They fear no treachery, flee before no foe;
Gladness alone doth in each bosom glow;
One joy fills every saint.

The blest one whom we sing
This day, now into Paradise received,
Beholds His Face in Whom he has believed;
He sees, unveiled, His King.

May we too find a place
Among the habitations of the just
This hour of anguish over; as our trust,
O Lord, is in Thy grace.