Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain

Come, ye faithful, raise the strainOf triumphant gladness;God hath brought his IsraelInto joy from sadness;Loosed from Pharaoh’s bitter yokeJacob’s sons and daughters;Led them with unmoistened footThrough the Red Sea waters.

’Tis the spring of souls to-day;Christ hath burst his prison,And from three days’ sleep in deathAs a sun hath risen;All the winter of our sins,Long and dark, is flyingFrom his light, to whom we giveLaud and praise undying.

Now the queen of seasons, brightWith the day of splendour,With the royal feast of feasts,Comes its joy to render;Comes to glad Jerusalem,Who with true affectionWelcomes in unwearied strainsJesu’s Resurrection.

Neither might the gates of death,Nor the tomb’s dark portal,Nor the watchers, nor the seal,Hold thee as a mortal;But to-day amidst the twelveThou didst stand, bestowingThat thy peace which evermorePasseth human knowing.