Contents

« Prev First Sunday after Easter: The Kingdom of Heaven… Next »
99

First Sunday after Easter.

God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

From the Epistle. [1 Jn. 5:11]

8,8,8,8

Was wär ich ohne dich gewesen

After Novalis. about 1795.

trans. by Catherine Winkworth, 1855

What had I been if Thou wert not?

What were I now if Thou wert gone?

Ah, fear and anguish were my lot,

In this wide world I stood alone;

Whate'er I love were safe no more,

The future were a dark abyss;

To whom could I my sorrows pour,

If Thee my laden heart should miss?

Longing for love through lonely years,

The gloom of night came o'er my day;

I followed, yet with secret tears,

The world's wild joys, and owned her sway;

Till restless from her turmoil driven,

I turned within,--and grief was there:

Ah, had we not a Friend in heaven,

Who, who his lot on earth could bear!

100

But when Thou mak'st Thy presence felt,

And when the soul hath grasped Thee right,

How fast the dreary shadows melt

Beneath Thy warm and living light!

In Thee I find a nobler birth,

A glory o'er the world I see,

And paradise returns to earth,

And blooms again for us in Thee.

101

Thou strong and loving Son of Man,

Redeemer from the bonds of sin,

'Tis Thou the living spark dost fan

That sets my heart on fire within.

Thou openest heaven once more to men,

The soul's true home, Thy Kingdom, Lord,

And I can trust and hope again,

And feel myself akin to God.

Brethren, go forth beside all ways,

The wanderer greet with outstretched hand,

And call him back who darkly strays,

And bid him join our gladsome band.

That Heaven hath stooped to earth below,

Proclaim the glad news everywhere,

That all may learn our faith, and know

They too may find an entrance there.

« Prev First Sunday after Easter: The Kingdom of Heaven… Next »
VIEWNAME is workSection