Thomas Toke Lynch (1818-1871). The Rivulet (1871). I. "Lift up your heads." Alfred H. Miles, ed. 1907. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century

Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.

The Rivulet (1871).
I. “Lift up your heads”

By Thomas Toke Lynch (1818–1871)


LIFT up your heads, rejoice,
Redemption draweth nigh;
Now breathes a softer air,
Now shines a milder sky;
The early trees put forth	5
Their new and tender leaf;
Hushed is the moaning wind
That told of winter’s grief.

Lift up your heads, rejoice,
Redemption draweth nigh;	10
Now mount the laden clouds,
Now flames the darkening sky;
The early scattered drops
Descend with heavy fall,
And to the waiting earth	15
The hidden thunders call.

Lift up your heads, rejoice,
Redemption draweth nigh;
O, note the varying signs
Of earth, and air, and sky;	20
The God of Glory comes
In gentleness and might,
To comfort and alarm,
To succour and to smite.

He comes the wide world’s king,	25
He comes the true heart’s friend,
New gladness to begin,
And ancient wrong to end;
He comes to fill with light
The weary, waiting eye:	30
Lift up your heads, rejoice,
Redemption draweth nigh.