Now the voice of exultation,
Now the triumph of salvation
Free and wide its tidings flings:
This is the day the LORD hath made: the day
That bids our sin and sorrow flee away,
Life and light and health that brings.
In the Law the types lay shaded:
In the promised End they faded,
Christ, Who all things consummates;
Christ, Whose Blood aside hath turned
That devouring sword which burned,
Waving wide, at Eden's gates.
Yea, that child,[1] our Mystic Laughter,
For whose sake the ram fell after,
Signifies the Joy of Life;
Joseph from the prison goeth:
Christ, by Resurrection, showeth
He hath conquered in the strife.
He the Dragon that, devouring
Pharaoh's dragons,[2] rose, o'erpowering
All their malice and their might;
He the Serpent set on high
That the people might not die
From the fiery serpents' bite.
