Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.
By Hymns. III. “Ten thousand times ten thousand”Henry Alford (1810–1871)
T
In sparkling raiment bright,
The armies of the ransom’d saints
Throng up the steeps of light:
’Tis finish’d—all is finish’d,
Their fight with death and sin;
Fling open wide the golden gates
And let the victors in.
Fills all the earth and sky!
What ringing of a thousand harps
Bespeaks the triumph nigh!
O day, for which Creation
And all its tribes were made!
O joy, for all its former woes
A thousand-fold repaid!
On Canaan’s happy shore,
What knitting sever’d friendships up,
Where partings are no more!
Then eyes with joy shall sparkle
That brimm’d with tears of late;
Orphans no longer fatherless,
Nor widows desolate.
Thou Lamb for sinners slain,
Fill up the roll of Thine elect,
Then take Thy power and reign:
Appear, Desire of nations,—
Thine exiles long for home;
Show in the heavens Thy promised sign;
Thou Prince and Saviour, come!