Ye who, clad in shin­ing rai­ment,
Watch with­in the emp­ty tomb
Where the dear Lord’s sac­red bo­dy
Lay in death through yes­ter’s gloom,
Tell us, guests from realms of glo­ry,
All the re­sur­rect­ion’s sto­ry!

How the tide of life re­turn­ing
Flushed the pierc­èd hands and feet;
How the heart so late­ly brok­en
Once again be­gan to beat;
How the head by thorns so wound­ed
Victory’s au­re­ole sur­round­ed!

Tell us, glo­ri­ous one whose gar­ment
Gleameth whit­er than the snow,
And whose coun­te­nance as light­ning,
Laid the watch, like dead men, low;
Mightiest one, from Heav’n des­cend­ed,
Tell us how the tomb was rend­ed!

How the seal secure was brok­en
Ere the dawn­ing of the day;
How the solid earth was shak­en
When the stone was rolled away;
While the world un­con­scious slum­bered
And the hours of death were num­bered.

Tell—but oh, no tongue can ut­ter
What trans­cend­eth speech and thought!
Passeth an­gels’ com­pre­hen­sion
How the mi­ra­cle was wrought.
He was dead; and lo! He liv­eth;
Yea, and life eter­nal giv­eth!

Forth He came! the hu­man bo­dy
He for man the fall­en wore,
And the hu­man soul unit­ed,
Glorified for­ev­er­more;
That in won­drous re-cre­ation
Man might share His ex­al­ta­tion.

While He fast­ed in the de­sert,
Tempted long and sore­ly tried,
Prayed in ang­uish in the gar­den,
On the cross in ang­uish died;
Watching with her Lord and weep­ing,
Solemn fast the Church was keep­ing.

Feast of feasts the fast suc­ceed­eth!
Once again the strain is poured:
Alleluia! Al­le­lu­ia!
Glory to the ris­en Lord!
Song of songs, in end­less glad­ness
Drowning pain and doubt and sad­ness.

Alleluia! He is ris­en!
Ris’n in­deed! the shouts re­sound
Holy greet­ing an­swers greet­ing;
Joy at last on earth is found.
Shore to shore the salu­ta­tions
Bind as one re­deemèd na­tions.

Alleluia! Choirs of an­gels
To the choirs of earth re­spond;
Alleluia! Al­le­lu­ia!
Rolleth seas and skies be­yond.
Heav’n and earth at last shall se­ver,
But the song shall peal for­ev­er!