Jerusalem.
13
Else why, O Sun, conceal thy face in dread,
Why tremble, Earth,[1] and why give up thy dead?
Why rends the temple's mystic veil in twain,
And fearful thunders shake th' affrighted plain?
Yet, blind to truth, say, wretched outcasts, say,
Wait ye the Saviour of a future day?
Lo, he has lived to bless, has died to save,
And burst the brazen fetters of the grave!
Awake, redeem'd Jerusalem,[2] awake,
And from the dust thy sullied garments shake!
From thy gall'd neck unloose the servile bands,
And cast the fetters from thy captive hands.
Break forth, ye mountains, into joyful song!
Ye barren wilds, the rapt'rous strain prolong!
Barren no more; unwonted verdure grows,
And the dry desert blossoms as the rose.
Behold, all Nature proves a second birth,
New skies embrace a new-created earth:
From the glad scene for ever Woe retires,
Pain is no more, and Death himself expires.
Ye angels, strike the full-resounding lyre,
Swell the glad chorus, all ye heav'nly choir!
She comes![3] she comes! descending from on high
The Holy City meets the ravish'd eye!
Why tremble, Earth,[1] and why give up thy dead?
Why rends the temple's mystic veil in twain,
And fearful thunders shake th' affrighted plain?
Yet, blind to truth, say, wretched outcasts, say,
Wait ye the Saviour of a future day?
Lo, he has lived to bless, has died to save,
And burst the brazen fetters of the grave!
Awake, redeem'd Jerusalem,[2] awake,
And from the dust thy sullied garments shake!
From thy gall'd neck unloose the servile bands,
And cast the fetters from thy captive hands.
Break forth, ye mountains, into joyful song!
Ye barren wilds, the rapt'rous strain prolong!
Barren no more; unwonted verdure grows,
And the dry desert blossoms as the rose.
Behold, all Nature proves a second birth,
New skies embrace a new-created earth:
From the glad scene for ever Woe retires,
Pain is no more, and Death himself expires.
Ye angels, strike the full-resounding lyre,
Swell the glad chorus, all ye heav'nly choir!
She comes![3] she comes! descending from on high
The Holy City meets the ravish'd eye!
