
1 Why on the bending willows hung,
Israel! still sleeps thy tuneful string?
Still mute remains thy sullen tongue,
And Zion's song denies to sing?
2 Awake! thy sweetest raptures raise;
Let harp and voice unite their strains:
Thy promised King his sceptre sways:
Jesus, thine own Messiah, reigns!
3 No taunting foes the song require;
No strangers mock thy captive chain;
But friends provoke the silent lyre,
And brethren ask the holy strain.
4 Nor fear thy Salem's hills to wrong,
If other lands thy triumphs share:
A heavenly city claims thy song;
A brighter Salem rises there.
5 By foreign streams no longer roam;
Nor, weeping, think of Jordan's flood:
In every clime behold a home,
In every temple see thy God.
Source: Laudes Domini: a selection of spiritual songs, ancient and modern for use in the prayer-meeting #521
First Line: | Why, on the bending willows hung |
Title: | Israel Returning From Captivity |
Author: | James Joyce |
Meter: | 8.8.8.8 |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |