2 King-And He more needfully and nobly prove The Nations' terror now than erst their

love;

3 King Their hated love's changed into wholesome fears:

Chorus- The shutting of His eye shall open theirs.

I King-As by a fair-eyed fallacy of Day
Misled before, they lost their way;

So shall they, by the seasonable fright
Of an unseasonable Night,1

Loosing it once again, stumble on true
Light:

2 King-And as before His too-bright eye
Was their more blind idolatry;

3 King

So his officious blindness now shall be
Their black, but faithful perspective of

Thee.

His new prodigious Night,

Their new and admirable light,

The supernatural dawn of Thy pure Day;
While wondering they

(The happy converts now of Him
Whom they compell'd before to be their
sin)

Shall henceforth see

To kiss him only as their rod,

Whom they so long courted as God.

Chorus- And their best use of him they worshipp'd,

be

To learn of him at last, to worship Thee.

1 Matt. xxvii. 45.

1 King-It was their weakness woo'd his beauty; But it shall be

Their wisdom now, as well as duty,

To enjoy his blot; and as a large black

letter

Use it to spell Thy beauties better;

And make the Night itself their torch to
Thee.

2 King-By the oblique ambush of this close night

Couch'd in that conscious shade

The right-eyed Areopagite 1

Shall with a vigorous guess invade

And catch Thy quick reflex; and sharply see

On this dark ground

To descant Thee.

3 King-O prize of the rich Spirit! with what fierce chase

Of his strong soul, shall he

Leap at Thy lofty face,

And seize the swift flash, in rebound
From this obsequious cloud,
Once call'd a sun,

Till dearly thus undone ;

Chorus- Till thus triumphantly tamed (O ye two Twin-suns!) and taught now to negotiate

you,

I King-Thus shall that rev'rend child of Light,

1 Cf. Acts xvii. 16-34. The passage is too long to quote, but Dionysius the Areopagite (the follower of one Areopagus) was converted by Paul on Mars Hill at Athens.

2 King-By being scholar first of that new Night, Come forth great master of the mystic

Day;

3 King-And teach obscure mankind a more close way,

By the frugal negative light

Of a most wise and well-abusèd Night,
To read more legible Thine original

ray;

Chorus And make our darkness serve Thy Day,
Maintaining 'twixt Thy work and ours
A commerce of contrary powers,
A mutual trade

'Twixt sun and shade

By confederate black and white,
Borrowing Day and lending Night.

1 King-Thus we who when with all the noble

2 King

powers

That (at Thy cost) are called, not vainly

ours;

We vow to make brave way

Upwards and press on for the pure intelligential prey,

At least to play

The amorous spies,

And peep and proffer at Thy sparkling throne;

3 King-Instead of bringing in the blissful prize and fastening on Thine eyes

Forfeit our own

And nothing gain

But more ambitious loss at last, of brain.

Chorus- Now by abasèd lids shall learn to be Eagles; and shut our eyes that we may see. THE CLOSE.

Chorus-Therefore to Thee and Thine auspicious

I King

ray

(Dread Sweet!) lo thus
At last by us

The delegated eye of Day

Does first his sceptre, then himself, in solemn tribute pay.

Thus he undresses

His sacred unshorn tresses;

At Thy adored feet, thus he lays down
His gorgeous tire

Of flame and fire,

2 King-His glittering robe,

3 King-His sparkling crown; I King His gold,

2 King His myrrh,

3 King-His frankincense; 1

Chorus-To which he now has no pretence:

For being show'd by this Day's light,
how far

He is from sun enough to make Thy star,
His best ambition now is but to be
Something a brighter shadow, Sweet, of
Thee.

Or on Heaven's azure forehead high to
stand

Thy golden index; with a duteous hand
Pointing us home to our own Sun,
The world's and his Hyperion.

1 The pure or male incense.

UPON EASTER DAY

RISE heir of fresh Eternity,

From thy virgin tomb.

Rise mighty Man of wonders, and Thy World with Thee

Thy tomb the universal East,

Nature's new womb,

Thy tomb, fair Immortality's perfumèd nest.

Of all the glories make Noon gay,1

This is the Morn;

This Rock buds forth the fountain of the streams of Day:

In Joy's white annals lives this hour

When Life was born;

No cloud scowls on His radiant lids, no tempests lour.

Life, by this Light's nativity,

All creatures have;

Death only by this Day's just doom is forced to die,

Nor is Death forced; for may he lie

Throned in Thy grave,

Death will on this condition be content to die.

1 That make.